Koukyuu no Toriko
by Makai Tenshi
Summary: Envy's a slaveslashwhore who wants revenge. Ed's a boy trying to rescue his brother. They strike a bargain: Envy helps Ed and he goes free. But fate has other ideas. Envy x Ed. Yaoi, don't like don't read.
1. Chapter 1

**Koukyuu no Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

AU, OOC, rating ranging between PG-13 and R, because I have no idea what'll happen. The new rating system sucks.

Romance I guess. A bit of Angst and Action/Adventure too.

This is in a made-up world. Envy's a slave and the setting takes place in a sort of feudal/Civil-war/monarchal society where Greed is King xD, regardless of the fact that I love Envy a lot more (I seem to like the hot, psychotic characters). Oh yes, and this might not be limited to one continent. I might take Gluttony out of the picture if he's of no use to me. He might be.

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Chapter 1

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_"Whores don't run from their masters or their customers. You obviously haven't learned your place," the rough, grating voice growled. The young boy this was directed to recoiled in the damp corner of the dark room, dark hair spilling in front of his face as his arms instinctively tightened around his frail body. The man snapped a long, iron-studded bullwhip in his hands, then pulled it behind him. "It's time you did!"_

_The whip cracked several times, each followed by the child's pained cries. They weren't quite human, sounding more like something a suffering animal would make, but they didn't phase the man. The boy had now stopped screaming and was quietly staring at the man with dark amethyst eyes that glowed with fire and hatred. The man sneered. "I don't like that look on your face, boy. I'm not going to ruin your pretty face; it's good for attracting customers. But I'm not about to stop your punishment just for that…"_

_The whip had already left deep gashes, had already spilt large quantities of dark crimson blood, which had in turn streamed onto the sheets below them. The man ignored this and whipped the boy again and again, stopping only when he was out of breath and the boy was almost unconscious. Still, the child found room for defiance. "M-mommy's… gonna come an' get me… soon…"_

_"You just wait" was unspoken, because right then, the boy couldn't seem to find the energy to say it. He was breathing heavily, with tears threatening to spill from the intense pain he was feeling. The man stared at him, hard, before growling, "Your momma's the one who sold you in the first place, boy." A nasty chuckle. "Don't fool yourself, you're all alone in this god forsaken place. If you're good, I might even get you a higher position at the palace harem… I heard the king has male concubines as well as female ones…"_

_"Fuck you," the boy hissed. The man slapped his face, leaving a stinging bruise where his hand had left it. He said, his own eyes flashing, "People of your position don't have a right to say that to people like me… but you'll learn… oh, you'll learn…"_

_The man spat contemptuously at the ground in front of the boy and told him as he walked out the door, "I expect better results tomorrow, boy."_

_The boy pressed a pale hand to his stinging cheek and stared at the open door with suppressed hatred before breaking into sobs and wondering why in the world he was crying when his mother hadn't— couldn't have— abandoned him. It was torture to talk, but then again, there was nothing to_ _say._

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Envy got up from the bed wondering why he'd had _that dream_ again and why he felt so goddamned _beat up_ when the only thing he'd done last night was— oh, right. He was a slave, a whore, and was to be _used_, _defiled_, in any way his master saw fit. He growled, irritated. This whole thing wasn't his fucking fault!

… it was his mother's. _Dante's_, he thought furiously, _not mother's, that bitch doesn't have the right to be called mother after what she did!_ He didn't like reminiscing, especially on subject matters that had occurred more than ten years ago. It just made him cranky, and he just wanted to _forget_ his past…

Only Envy couldn't. He had to _remember_, so he could get revenge on her, on his master, on the world. He was as defiant as ever, but had learned to shut up when they whipped him, knowing that if he didn't say a word, it would irritate them all the more. The scars were still there from the first night; most of the beatings he'd gotten since then were more gingerly applied, since he was one of the more valuable slaves. Good as a sitter, good as a whore, good as a maid— honestly, these people seemed to almost forget that he was a _man_. He was strong enough for field labor, only they didn't want him ruining his body, his skin, the parts that the fucking bastards found _attractive_, so he was used in the feminine jobs.

Envy ran a crude comb through his long, brackish hair and washed his face. He'd been sold to several people, at high prices each time, since he was so "valuable," and a good whore. Of course, he'd always taken a long time to be sold, since he'd put on his most defiant face possible during the uncomfortable process. But the "good whore" part always got him sold in the end. He stared at his hands, contemptuous, ashamed. _Well, it's not my fucking fault!_

And Envy. His name wasn't even conventional. He supposed he should've been happy at least that he hadn't been given a too-sluttish name, but the way his master said "_Envy" _just pissed him off. It reminded him that he didn't even have the freedom of his own name, and that his master had named him because he thought the word Envy suited his own "jealousy for those with higher positions." As if. That sentence didn't even make sense. Bastard.

There was shouting outside the crude hut his master had him stationed in. He leaned through the window and stared. There was a boy, probably twelve or thirteen, being dragged through the streets, and he was kicking and screaming. Golden hair shimmered as he cried a single word, over and over again. "Nii-san! Nii-san!"

A guard kicked him. "Shut up, boy."

"Nii-san!"

Envy stopped looking, not knowing why he felt _sorry_ for the boy when he was worse off— definitely worse off. He may have been arelatively moderately-fed slave, but he was still a slave, and he had _a lot _of pride, more so than the others at least— he hadn't just accepted that fucking phrase the masters had tried to imprint in his mind: "You're a whore, and you'll always be a whore, now do your job!" And he was miserable in his position.

He paused as he was about to walk out of the hut before shaking his head and deciding that even if he went out, there would be nothing to do anyways. He hated his mother, he hated his master, and he _hated_ his life.

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Envy growled at his master as the man sneered and forced his head back by jerking on his long, dark hair. After fitting rusting chains on his neck, wrists, and ankles, his master pushed him roughly out the door. The manacles chaffed his skin when he was pulled. "Ow! What the fuck are you doing!"

"You're being sold, slave. Can't afford to keep you any longer. Be happy, you won't have to see my face again. I don't wanna see yours, that's for sure. Cost this place more than you're worth. Filthy bitch."

_I thought bitches were female? _Envy was tempted to spit at the man's feet, but decided against it. But what the master said didn't make sense. He made plenty of money for his master, so what was this about not being able to afford him? He couldn't seriously want to stop paying for his lodgings and food when they cost less than half of what he made each day?

When they got to the slave market, the man tied the chain around his neck to a fencepost and started hollering about good merchandise. Envy looked around the place in contempt. He wouldn't ever succumb to anything anyone told him to do unless he himself wanted to do it, saw reason for it that didn't make him out as inferior or as property.

Over three hours had passed and no one had bought him yet. Envy smirked. The master was getting disgruntled. Finally, as what had to be two more hours had passed, a mysterious, cloaked man had shown what seemed to be a vague interest in him and decided to buy him.

After his master bargained for prices (Envy rolled his eyes. If he was such a hard slave to sell, prices shouldn't even matter, but this was the process each time), which the fool of a stranger had paid, he was sold. Sold. Gone. _Good fucking riddance_.

The stranger had taken his cloak off, revealing moderately long blonde hair caught up in a braid and a youthful, handsome face. What really caught Envy's eye were the stranger's eyes— hawk-like, spirited, and gold at just the right angle. He was more boy than man, really. He couldn't be older than sixteen, and chances were that he was even younger. Envy was almost twenty.

The old master was gone with this boy's money jingling in his pocket. The boy grinned teasingly at Envy and jerked him up by his chains. "So you belong to me now. Don't worry. I won't sell you off like I did the Youswell coalmines. You're _much_ too valuable. I'll be taking good care of you…"

_The use-well what?_ Envy matched his seductive grin, years of being a prostitute taken into action, and leaned against the boy, his mouth mere inches from the master's. He breathed, "I'm a very disobedient slave. Are you sure buying me was a good idea…?"

The boy pushed him away slightly and told him flatly, "Sorry, I'm not really into that. Why don't we start off with something more solid, like names? I'm Edward Elric. Call me Ed."

_He is… unbelievably chaste_… was all Envy could think, besides the usual, _I hate him_. "I'm Envy… and don't ask for more than that, I don't know my real name…" he then added with the same flat tone, "_Master_ Elric."

Ed laughed. "Come on, don't do that, I told you to call me Ed. I didn't buy you to have someone to cater to my every demand. I was just kidding about the valuable part. Humans beings are priceless, they're not things to be sold like property. Slavery's not right, and we both know it."

Envy demanded, still slightly suspicious, "Then why the fuck did you buy me? _Ed_?"

"Viper," Ed shot back. "Hey, I'm being nice to you, so don't use profanity. Weren't you just trying to seduce me a moment ago?"

Envy grumbled, "It's just what most masters look for in me. You heard my last one, he was going on about how I was such a good whore and how much profit I reap in, etcetera, etcetera. That bastard. And you're avoiding my question."

Ed didn't listen. "And aren't you a boy? So why the hell are you a whore?"

_Because my mother, that bitch, sold me for money. I'll never forgive her…_ Envy was silent, his eyes suddenly cold and alert. Ed had no business prying into his private life, slave or no.

Ed then stopped and looked ahead, away from Envy, his golden eyes suddenly serious. "Okay, if you don't wanna talk about it, that's okay. I bought you because… well, you looked… sad."

_Sad? Is he nuts? I go out of my way to look defiant and he thinks I look SAD_. "The hell?"

"Never mind… hey, why don't we make a bargain? You help me with what I want, and I'll set you free."

That was tricky. _Just what does he want? If he doesn't want sex, and claims not to like slavery…_ Envy saw a sudden resemblance between him and the boy he saw being dragged to the palace that morning… and following that train of thought… the way the boy was crying, "Nii-san"…

"What do you want?"

"I don't want you to run off on this, but I need you to help me… obtain something— someone— from—"

"The palace?" Envy finished, half-guessing.

"The p—" Ed broke off. "Wait, how did you know?"

"I saw… a boy being dragged there this morning and—"

"You saw Alphonse?" Ed suddenly looked like he couldn't breathe.

"Stop looking so shocked, I told you, I just saw a blonde kid being dragged off into the palace and I thought he resembled you, so I—"

"That was Al," Ed said simply.

"Well, he—"

"Short blonde hair, hazel green eyes, about this height?"

Envy merely growled affirmatively, more than a little annoyed at Ed continually interrupting his train of thought with not-very-intelligent remarks, but remembered that, even if Ed thought they weren't, they still _were_ master and slave. So the next best solution, besides kicking Ed in the face, was to remain silent. Ed broke it. "Okay, so you taking me up on the offer or not?"

Ed looked somehow… vulnerable. "He's my only brother… I _need_ him back."

"I'll do it."

_I might kill you for being an idiot after I'm free, but I'll give you your moment of reunion_. Ed squeezed his shoulder, hard, and told him, "Thanks."

" FUCK, THAT HURTS!"

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_.:Owari:._

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A/N:… I don't know what to think. They were obviously out-of-character… I'm going to watch the series over again to see how they _really_ were… argh…

My excuse is that they just met and didn't know each other, so they can't really hate each other. I'm probably going to delete this and reedit it to see if I can improve it, but for the moment I want to upload it… Envy's not poisonous enough… definitely not…

REVIEW!


	2. Chapter 2

**Koukyuu no Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

Thanks for reviewing! Honestly, I wasn't going to delete it, I just said I wanted to "delete and reedit it" or something to that effect… but I think I can (probably) work with the OOCness… although I generally hate OOC. I hate OCs too, and I REALLY hate Mary Sues . Original characters with original stories are fine (obviously) but making OCs perfect… ugh.

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Chapter 2

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_You never really know a person unless you step in his shoes. _That was something his brother had taught him, something he tried to follow. Alphonse Elric tried to think of what the guard, standing stiff and motionless in front of his jail cell, was thinking. He couldn't. There was nothing for him to work with. The man was… empty.

It was dark in the cell, dark and lonesome, but Alphonse didn't especially mind, because he had hope, one that he held on to with his whole existence. His brother would come and get him. His brother would never abandon him. His brother cared about him. Ed was all that mattered.

Well, perhaps not all. It was really cold in the cell, too, and he didn't have enough clothing to keep him warm. And the guard was still standing there doing nothing, stiff as a fencepost and twice as lacking in personality. _Ah… I shouldn't be mean. He's human, after all; he has to have _some _personality_.

That having been thought, Alphonse resorted to crouching in partial fetal position and rubbing his hands across his arms in an attempt to stave off the cold. It would have to make do, and in the lonely darkness, Al was left thinking, _I hope brother comes soon…_

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Envy woke up to water splashing on his face. The day before had seemed almost like a dream, though he wasn't sure if it was entirely a good one. A golden-haired boy named Ed had bought him… they'd made a deal… and right now, there was some girl's rack shoved in front of his face. He looked up, bleary-eyed, at a grinning, blonde-haired-blue-eyed girl. Her outfit should've had Envy's brain screaming "whore" but it didn't. There was nothing covering her top except for a strip of black cloth wound tightly around her chest, and though her pants were decent enough, most people would tend to look at her top. Maybe it was her cheerful, innocent face that compensated for the lack of upper clothing. Envy shrugged. It wasn't as if she had that bad of a fashion sense. It was just… surprising and not very pleasant to wake up to, as unpleasant as the water she'd splashed on him.

"Oi, you planning to sleep all day? I mean, you woke up even later than Ed did! And he sleeps an awful lot…" the girl trailed off.

Envy sat up, confused. The girl wasn't spitting on him in contempt or calling him slave or whore or anything. What was up with these people? "Where's Ed?"

The girl blinked. "Why do you want Ed? You should get breakfast first. And wash yourself. The bathroom's over there."

That's right… where was he? His logic concluded that he was in a hotel room… that's right. They'd (Ed and him) went to the town to rent a hotel room (it was Envy's first time so Ed did the talking), and then Envy remembered falling asleep as Ed talked (he took forever, it wasn't Envy's fault!) and here he was. _Hm… did he carry me? Why didn't he just jerk me up by my chains and tell me to wake up and walk like masters are supposed to? …oh, right, he "doesn't believe in slavery"… what the hell was I thinking, just trusting him off the bat, yesterday?_

Envy liked Ed's eyes. He really liked his eyes. They were full of spirit and determination, something that was too lacking in the world. They were probably why he'd trusted Ed in the first place. But first things first. Just who the hell was…

"Who are you?"

"I've been hanging around those two way too much…" the girl muttered before sticking a hand out and saying cheerfully, "Winry Rockbell, an old friend of Ed's, nice to meet you. Sorry about not introducing myself before."

"…Envy. It's okay, most people don't even glance at me."

_Unless it's at night and one of my "work days"… _he thought grimly, but the girl didn't need to know that. Winry blinked. "Why not? I think you're pretty cute. Not exactly a womanly sort of cute, but you are cute, and I just…"

Ah. That was it. She didn't know that he was a slave. _Pretty considerate of Ed not to tell her. Wonder how long that's going to last? He's gonna have to tell her sooner or later… _

"Knock off the new guy, would ya? And just what do you mean by 'cute'? I don't think any man would take that as a compliment."

"Oh, there you are, Ed! I was wondering—"

Winry had just looked at his strangely limp right arm in shock and then turned a scary shade of some unidentifiable color. Envy thought he might've been hallucinating, but he swore that he'd seen steam coming from her head as she narrowed her eyes at Ed. "Ed… you didn't… let me see your arm…"

Ed had started sweating, something Envy found both fascinating and amusing. "W-Winry, I… you see, I was… I mean, I tried to take Envy's chains off when it got caught in—"

"Stop lying, Ed, now tell me how you _really_ got it broken. You've been doing something dangerous again, haven't you?"

"_Envy's chains?"_ Envy thought. _That traitor, I thought that he— wait, his arm?_ Winry had taken Ed's coat off and was examining Ed's arm… his metal arm. It was almost completely torn off, and didn't seem to be functioning. _Huh. I never noticed… I wonder how he lost his real arm…?_

Ed grinned at Envy, telling him to get breakfast and to stop staring, it was nothing special. Envy blinked. "Ah? From where?"

Ed sighed. "Never mind, let's all get something together after Winry fixes my arm…"

"Ed, you already ate. And I bet you're gonna put it all on my tab! Freeloader."

"Cut me some slack, would you? Besides, Envy's new to this and I'm kinda hungry, too, so…"

"But you just ate!"

"Not a lot!"

Envy rubbed his ears, turning his attention away from their bickering and taking the time to wash his face in the bathroom. He wondered again why Ed had bought him in the first place. He was still rather confused yesterday and so had accepted Ed's little "because you looked sad" statement without any doubt, but now that he thought about it, that _couldn't_ have been it. There were plenty of dejected, broken-spirited slaves around, so there was no reason for him to be an exception.

It was hard for Envy to look beyond what a person was saying to _why_ the person was saying it, but when he thought hard enough, the answer usually came to him. Ed seemed used to making up lies on the spot, but also not very good saying it. He seemed like someone who would do good deeds in public view, someone who would jump the gun, who would assume things and say what he thought… but he was a bad liar, and Envy didn't know why he even believed Ed in the first place.

Now, back to the problem of why Ed bought him… he must've been of some use. Ed probably wouldn't have bought him otherwise._ So it all comes down to the moral issue again. He's just like all my other masters… I wouldn't be surprised if he sold me when my usefulness comes to an end…I'm an idiot…_

A suppressed scream tore his thoughts away from that. Ed was gasping slightly, before grinning and explaining, "I hate it when the nerves connect…"

"Envy, you done?"

"Yes… Master Elric."

Ed stared at him. "This again? I told you already—"

"Fine, Ed."

Ed's mouth clamped shut and he averted his eyes from Envy's form. Envy growled to himself. What the hell was he doing, letting his emotions show in such an obvious manner? Ed was obviously slightly bothered, but shook his head and smiled. "Anyways, let's get food."

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_How do slaves live? Don't they have any rights? … never mind… they're slaves after all. But…_ Ed couldn't keep his eyes off Envy, off his too thin albeit rather lean and muscular form, off the brackish long hair, off the revealing clothes. Envy had been genuinely confused when he told him to sit down at the table of the restaurant, with the rest of them. The rest of them being just Winry and him. Alphonse should have been there, too… as well as the rest of the gang, but they were back at Headquarters. The Colonel gave him leave to search for his brother... and gave his mother a place to stay after their house burned down. He supposed he should've been thankful to him, but the sarcastic remarks that stupid Roy would make to him made him want to claw the Colonel's eyes out. _Damn Mustang..._

Winry would try to get Envy to eat more of this, more of that, commenting on how thin he was and how he needed more nutrition, while Ed could see he was contemptuous of her mothering and wanted to be left alone. Ed was also bothered by how Envy had suddenly fallen silent and had reverted back to the "Master Elric." What did he do wrong?

"Oi, Envy, what's bothering you?"

Envy's violet eyes snapped to him. "Nothing."

_That basically told me that he's pissed at me… or is this how he usually is? He was nicer yesterday…_ Envy put his fork down and eyed Ed. "Why did you _really_ buy me?"

"I said that—"

"Stop lying. Beat me if you want, _Master Elric_, but tell me the truth."

"…I really don't like slavery. I have no intention to beat you, unless it's as a minor quarrel, and even then, as an equal."

Envy looked annoyed. "That's not what I asked. If you're worried that I'm going to back down when you tell me the truth, well, I _did _say that I'd help you with what you wanted, and even if I didn't, you have the right as my master to force me to do it. I wanted to know what you wanted me _for_. Ed."

"Stop reverting to Master Elric every now and then, it's annoying! I don't own slaves, it's just… you attracted my attention, okay? We needed someone of a low status to sneak into the palace, and look at you, you're perfect for it… it's obvious that you hate the king, you're lithe and strong, however thin, and _you _could get the palace guards' keys and free Alphonse!"

"So you intend to sell me to the king to be part of his harem? Why don't you just say it?" Envy's voice was cold, lacking all the emotion they'd carried the day before. Ed paused, and thought about how Envy was feeling. He then tried to answer with as much tact as he could. Unfortunately, he didn't have very much. Al was better at this sort of thing. "Yes. And you'd run away with Al afterwards—"

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me first thing? Then I'd know you were using me instead of having false hope that someone in the world actually thought of me as a _person—_"

"I _do _think of you as a person, it's just—"

"You bought me because I was useful, damn it! No matter what you say to change it, it all comes down to this: I. Am. A. Fucking. Slave. And. You. Are. My. Fucking. Master. You may claim not to like slavery, but just try to tell me you don't think of me as a slave."

Ed tried to think of some comeback, but his mind was blank. Envy's eyes betrayed the fact that he was disappointed in Ed. He continued, almost tauntingly, "I thought so… let me tell you this, Ed."

His amethyst eyes narrowed as he hissed, "_Slaves_ aren't _people_."

Envy then jerked himself out of the chair, muttering, "Excuse me."

Ed stared at his empty seat. Winry's face was downcast. _Damn it, that bastard… I need to talk sense into him. _As he was about to get up after Envy, Winry jerked on his sleeve and told him quietly, "Let him be, he needs some time alone…"

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_.:Owari:._

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A/N: Um… rather shorter than the last one… and I finished Hagaren (did it in three days xDD), and yeah, saw how they really where, so I wanted them to hate each other a bit more… they're still a bit out of character, but I'm working on it. Ed and Envy shouldn't get along so well, should they? I really hate quick-action-and-fluff in early chapters too, so naturally, I don't really like stories without some kind of conflict… I did this on a kind of whim though.

To Blue Fox: I knew I'd convert you! Ed and Envy rock, don't they? So does yaoi. And so does that MV I sent you… Pride is hot ;D.

I'm not sure how I did on their internal conflicts… Review, okay?


	3. Chapter 3

**Koukyuu no Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

Random speculation on my story: If he talks seriously, he cusses, and if he doesn't, he taunts. Is there any time Envy is nice? ;D We'll see, won't we?

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Chapter 3

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Envy was out of the hotel, by the riverside, deep in thought. It was already nearly sunset, several hours after he'd run away. So did Winry know he was a slave before his outburst? Did it matter? Either way, she would now. Would her opinion of him change any bit? Would anyone's? Now that he was calmer, he realized that his anger was unjustified. He probably should've let Ed explain, lame as his excuses were, and have done with it. Ed did promise to set him free after all. Nothing else mattered. He didn't know why he let himself get angered so easily by a master he didn't even know, who didn't even do anything.

Ed's voice pierced through his thoughts. "Envy! Damn it, where are you?"

Would he get angry at a master who cared?_ A master who cares? Don't make me laugh. _But it was obvious enough how much Ed cared about his brother… _What the fuck am I thinking of that for? _To care, you needed to understand the other person. His little brother didn't look like the dark sort of person Envy was, had to be. _No one understands me._

"Envy!"

_No one can see what I see… _Envy ignored Ed's searching voice. He would find him eventually. It wasn't as though the river was closed off to the public.

"Envy…"

Envy looked at the shadow beside him, startled despite the fact that he'd expected Ed to find him. His light voice was slightly thicker than normal, something he couldn't fathom. Ed sounded almost like… like he was relieved to find Envy. _I suppose people would be relieved to find something that they spent a lot of money on just the day before._

Ed was now sitting beside him, close, but nowhere near touching. It wasn't quite friendly, yet companionable all the same. Envy growled, taking this as a sign of unwanted compassion, giving him an order without meaning to. _He's supposed to be the master after all_.

"I didn't ask you to sit next to me, _Ed_."

Envy had abandoned the Master Elric. What good did it do anyways? Ed didn't answer right away, instead giving a moderate sound between an exasperated sigh and a chuckle. Then he looked up into the river's calm, steady flowing and smiled wistfully. "Al… he used to come by the riverside, too… whenever we had an argument."

"So what? Is there a reason why you're comparing me to your fucking saintly brother?"

_I'm not letting him get through to me… he's just going to end up throwing me away anyways…_ Ed's head was bowed, and he didn't show any outer signs of being bothered. Envy was getting ticked off. "Why the hell are you trying to find me anyways? I did say that I'd help you, so there, I'm gonna help you! You don't need any more reassurance than that, do you?"

Ed just laughed softly as he moved closer. Envy's eyes widened slightly. What was his master doing now? "You're not going to make this easy on me, are you? I just wanted to apologize… if I did anything wrong, if I did anything to upset you, I'm sorry. Okay?"

His hand was sifting through his golden hair, an unconscious action, it seemed. Envy, for some reason, found it unusually fascinating. "Al never gave me the chance to apologize first, so I thought that I should try when the person I'm fighting with is even more stubborn than I am."

"You're not property, Envy. I thought that you would've known that by now."

"Then why do I fucking exist?"

Envy was being irrational and hotheaded again, but how else was he supposed to react? Ed's nearness was getting to him. He'd never been that close to a non-hostile and non-aroused person before. He knew that his pulse was getting faster, and it scared him. Along with that, he was also painfully aware of his subservient position… Ed didn't seem to notice. His face was dangerously close to Envy's now, mere millimeters away, as he breathed, "That's a stupid question… why do _I _exist?"

_This is going way too far._ He didn't care if Ed was another boy; even if he was a _girl_, no one was allowed that close without meaning _something_! And he didn't want anything to do with Ed. His master looked half possessed as he looked upon Envy's pale face and slight frame. His eyes were a dizzying gold. _I thought he wasn't interested? _Envy scooted back a little and sat up straight as he snapped, "I don't know!"

Ed blinked, as he recollected where he was and what he was doing. "Exactly," he answered briskly. He stood up, and looked down on Envy at a higher elevation and grinned teasingly, turning into a completely different person, and Envy saw him for what he'd first met Ed as: a strong-willed, reckless young man, still not quite grown out of boyish fears and desires. "I thought you didn't want to be a slave? You seem to be admitting it rather easily."

Envy growled, "Fuck you."

Ed was right, though. _All those years those bastards treated me like an object… if I give in to that now… then… _

_I'm admitting that they win. _

That was something he would never do, not in a million years. Never_. Never, never, never. _He looked ahead, feeling a strange amalgamate of assurance and disturbance. He still didn't have reason to exist, and yet, he knew what he must not do. _All the thoughts running through my head. Someday, I'll go crazy… trying to figure out why I exist. For now, I guess I have to stick with Ed. That's what a human does when backed in a corner, right? I won't be like them. Anyone who's ignorant enough to think that slaves _are_ objects… well… they're the ones who're trash._

Ed didn't snap back, probably because he knew that Envy was saying it because he had no better comeback. Envy's eyes snapped to him curiously before he turned away from the river resolutely and clapped Ed on the shoulder, the friendliest thing he'd done all day, and told him to get back to the hotel.

&

It had to do with Envy's near-violet eyes. Back in his room, Ed was tracing a finger along his own lips, fascinated and horrified. What was he planning on doing? What in the world was he trying to do? It was like he was possessed or something. He'd only went out to get Envy back and to apologize to him, and it somehow turned into a mix of words, taunts, and sexual tension. _Thank God Envy backed away._ He didn't want to think of what would happen if he'd actually _kissed_ the older boy. Ed shuddered.

_This is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me… Winry kissing me doesn't count, that was when we were kids, and besides that, it was all one-sided and on her part…_ _and Envy's a guy, for God's sake! _He'd never liked girls, but he didn't think that he was… into that… _what would Al say?_

He instinctively ran his metal right hand through his hair. For some reason, nothing, hair for instance, would get caught between the gaps of his metal fingers when he did that. _Winry's getting really good at this…_

He said aloud, "I really need to stop thinking about things that are gonna drive me nuts…"

Like Envy… he was a slave that he was going to set free the instant Al was rescued… but Envy probably hated him for using him. He didn't think of it that way himself, but knew that the way Envy saw his buying him was partly the truth too… he'd just wanted to get his brother back, but to do so he'd have to use Envy, and Envy hated that. He was doing it in return for freedom… but Envy shouldn't have had the obligation in the first place when being a slave wasn't his own fault. _So whose fault is it? _Add to that the entire physical attraction… _I'm not sure I _want _him free…_

"What am I thinking? He deserves to be free…"

_Stand up and walk…_ It was something he'd learned over the years, something he'd tell people who wouldn't let go of the past. It was irritating to see them helpless and not knowing what to do, when what they should be doing is moving forward. He hadn't realized that he was doing it himself. _After all, you've got legs, haven't you?_

"I'm going to concentrate on Al for now… we can decide on everything else later."

&

The Next Day

&

"This is the first time I didn't wake up feeling that I got knocked up and down..."

_No pun intended._ Envy pulled his old master's chains on himself, knowing that Ed would do it by the time he woke up anyways. He was going to be sold again… this time to the king. If Ed made him presentable enough. He smirked. It wouldn't be his fault if he wasn't taken. Then what would _poor _Ed do? Unfortunately, the "good whore" thing was part of his contract… and with that…

"Hey, you're up? … why are you wearing your chains? It's not even midday yet. Ed's still…" the voice trailed off uncertainly.

"Hey, Winry," he said casually.

"Envy… Ed's still sleeping…"

"Do I care?"

"But… he wasn't… planning on doing this that early…"

"Why are you even talking to me? You know I'm a slave."

He wasn't particularly curious; he just wanted to make conversation, however strange the subject matter. Winry smiled at him awkwardly. "Does it matter? Slaves still have feelings. I don't like toying with people's emotions… it's easier tampering with bodies, but wounds of the heart are harder to heal… so I want to try being civil to everybody."

"Except for me, is that it?" Ed had gotten up and looked like he lacked sleep. His blonde hair wasn't tied in its usual braid, instead left down and cascading over his back like a golden waterfall. "I swear, you're so sadistic, especially if I break a part of the automail…"

"Maybe I wouldn't _be_ like this if you didn't break it! Replacing it is one thing… wait, what am I saying? There's no reason to replace it if you barely grow an inch every two years!"

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING AN ULTRA-MIDGET WHO NEEDS A HIGH-POWERED MICROSCOPE IN ORDER TO BE SEEN PROPERLY?"

"Well, you haven't grown much…"

"YOU! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!"

Envy sat back; the chains were pulling him down anyway. It was funny how a single day of slacking off could make going back to his old life so hard. He then speculated on Ed's height, amused. Winry was right… Ed _was_ unusually short for his age. Envy hadn't noticed it much, because Ed was younger than him after all, but if _Winry_ was taller than Ed was, and she was younger than Envy, too... He smirked, remarking, "She's right, you know."

"YOU, TOO! I ORDER YOU TO SHUT UP ABOUT MY HEIGHT. DON'T CALL ME SHORT!"

"Why not, o-chibi-san…?" Envy taunted. If Ed really didn't feel right about slavery, then he had no obligation to do as Ed said. It was more fun this way. Oh, he may have had to do as Ed said in a more serious situation, but in one like this, he'd realized that Ed didn't pose much of a threat to him.

"I DARE YOU TO REPEAT THAT!"

"O-chi-bi-sa-n," Envy repeated, slowly enunciating each syllable. It just meant shorty. If Ed didn't overreact so much, Envy probably would've stopped using the term. _He should've realized that by now, at his age…_

Ed threw up his hands in exasperation and yelled, "YOU'RE ALL AGAINST ME!"

"Your height's the one against you…" Envy drew back. He was enjoying himself too much… This wasn't how he was supposed to be. _The first thing I'm going to do when I'm free… is find Dante's whereabouts. Then… _Murder and revenge wasn't new to him; besides, he would rather get revenge and suffer than to live life the way Ed was used to— undoubting, carefree... Ed didn't know how _lucky _he was. Envy's eyes widened. How on Earth did he not think of this before? _I think I've found my purpose…_

_I'm going to find Dante. Then I'm going to kill her._

"That doesn't even make sense…" Ed stopped his rampage, undoubtedly noting how Envy had lowered his defenses for the first time… it was only for a little while, and now the walls were back in place, but Envy was. He rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes took in Envy's chains. "Envy…"

"I know."

"Why? We're not going until midday."

"It's to remind me of my position, Ed. You're gonna sell me anyways, and I'd rather do it myself."

"This again? Come on, you don't need chains."

"When you sell me? I think I do."

"But not _now_. We're going to get breakfast and take a trip to the post office and follow Winry around for a bit, then come back and have lunch before we 'sell' you. Take them off. That's an order."

Envy muttered under his breath before he took the keys that any other master would have stashed away and removed the chains. Ed grinned. "Come on, Envy."

Envy didn't answer. It was best not to get too close. Even if Ed's smile was infectious, his friends interesting, his ideals unique— he would still get in the way of his purpose. Envy didn't need friends. He needed a purpose. And that purpose was Dante. He nodded and followed Ed and Winry out the door.

&

_.:Owari:._

&

A/N: Oh geez… I don't think this was well-written at all… there's a lot wrong with it, I just can't see it at the moment… --

**Isisoftheunderground**: Um… yes it does xD. Thanks!

**Maruken**: Greed is king (of Envy's homeland at least). I don't think I've said it… but, aw, your review made me blush xD. Thanks for reviewing! Ed/Envy does rock.

**Zeila E**: … I didn't expect you to watch Full Metal Alchemist xDD. Even if it is a little. Do you not watch because it's at 1:00 on weekdays or because you don't want to? Because if you don't, you're really missing out on an awesome anime. Anyways, yeah, I've been using heavier language, and I can see how you'd be surprised, especially with all my other, lighter fanfictions. I think I'm improving… still not very good at plot building, but improving. I'm pretty sure I'm okay on the grammar. You're right, I didn't think about Winry and her reaction too thoroughly, so thanks for taking the time to read and review! Hope to hear more from you later. (Constructive criticism is good)

**Kireishi-chan**: Kirei-kun! You like it? (nudge, nudge)… haha. I converted Jennifer to yaoi. And the game is called Blue Bird's Illusion or something… I could either send you the link or give you the music video that I sent Jen. It's so good… by the way, "Me, Jen, Aki, and Mar made it.. . boredom.."… don't send links on fanfictiondotnet, they don't turn up (there's nothing in your review). Ffdotnet (see? I have to type it like this…) screws things like links, italics, extra exclamation points, etc. up, so send it on AIM or something.

&

Review! Constructive criticism needed badly... xD.


	4. Chapter 4

**Koukyuu no Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

A/N: You should check out the Hagaren theme songs' lyrics. They're really moving, and good inspiration too.

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Chapter 4

&

_I see you in my dreams, but then I wake up_

_That alone should satisfy me, but…_

_Since I am so petty, I do nothing but repeat mistakes_

_How strong must I become so no one will get hurt?_

_I begin to believe that hesitating is a weakness_

_Embracing the wound that will never heal_

_The two keep walking because they cannot go back_

_Their hearts deep inside still hurt from their inerasable sin_

--Excerpt from Inerasable Sin translated lyrics, FMA ending theme one.

&

_Envy is one of the seven deadly sins. It differs from the others because of what surrounds it. Envy does not require love, like all the other sins. Lust, Gluttony, Pride, Wrath, Greed— all five require some form of passion. They are capable of existing by themselves. The sixth, Sloth, may not need love, but is also capable of existing by itself. Envy requires more than one person for it to exist, but harbors no love. An existence fueled by purpose alone, the purpose often leading to fear and despair._

Envy walked alongside Ed and Winry, face downcast as he thought of the irony of his old master's name for him and the very definition of Envy. He didn't need friends: he'd survived without them all his life, and could continue living that way. His hate for Dante, his pure _need_ to see her despicably beautiful face again (because, however hateful, she _was _beautiful), the need to feel her life taken from her by his hand, was sickening even to himself, but _needed_. Ed needed his brother. Envy needed revenge.

"Why do you need to go to the post office again?"

Ed glanced at Winry before his shoulder sagged and he replied, "Stupid _Colonel Mustang_ wants me to give him a full account of what I find in this country… but what I really can't stand are his stupid sarcastic remarks… 'Ah, I see, you bought a _slave_… yes, and I heard that _that_ city that you just happened to leave a while back is in an uproar too… know anything about it?'… that cocky bastard, just because he knows what I do from day to day doesn't give him the right to rub it in my face."

Winry sighed, rubbing her temple. Ed roughly shoved a thin, obviously hastily written letter in the mailbox, and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Envy thought, _Colonel? This country? _and asked him, "You're from out of the country? … well, I guess that would explain the whole slavery issue… What do you do for a living anyways?"

"…work for the state… the only way I can support my mom and little brother…"

Envy read between the lines: Ed's father was missing. Ed didn't sounded bitter, just resigned, with a halfway bored we're-better-off-than-without-him voice. Most likely, the dad was dead or good-for-nothing. It didn't matter anyways. Envy never knew his father, and his mother… _Damn it, for the last time, it's Dante, not mother!_

But then again, who was he to deny the ties of blood? Dante was related to him, and he couldn't deny it. _Doesn't mean I have to like it_. She was still a filthy bitch.

"Ooh, how gorgeous! Ed, can we buy it? Please?"

She was looking at a new automail part at a store that they'd passed. Ed rolled his eyes. "Don't use up all my money like you did last time."

"I won't. Part of your money's going into Envy's clothing anyway."

"…Clothing?" both Ed and Envy demanded at the same time.

She looked at the two boys in disbelief. "You can't expect him to wear _that_ all the time!"

Envy looked down at his worn midriff, loincloth, and shorts— okay, so it wasn't exactly formal, or even _proper_, but it covered the absolutely necessary body parts and was what he was comfortable with. "There's nothing wrong with it, is there?"

"…it's how a _whore_ would dress, Envy."

She seemed to be forgetting one minor detail. Envy growled in irritation. Maybe this was why she was so nice to him— damn woman didn't even think of him as a slave. She probably knew he _was _one, but couldn't register it in her delicate little brain. "Isn't that what I am?"

Winry wasn't fazed. "NO, you're _NOT_, not _now_, and you're _not _going to be wearing that the whole day! You may not have anything else to wear for the moment, but we're _going _to buy more stuff for you. We can use as much of Ed's money as we want (I do anyway). It's all he's good for, anyway. Can't cook, can't clean, can't fix his arm himself, eats too much, can't—"

"…I'm right here, you know," Ed cut in, glaring at her. She waved him off.

"It's the truth, Ed. Now let's find something for Envy!"

"…no, thanks. You find it yourself."

Winry reached into her pocket and threw a large wrench at Ed, who yelped as it hit him square in the head and left a huge bruise. "Let's. Find. Something. For. Envy. Now."

"Yes, ma'am."

&

Envy walked out of the store feeling like a wooden mannequin, a guinea pig, a _test subject_. Damn woman wouldn't let him choose his own things. She'd even commented on Ed's pants, said that they looked good on him because his ass was tight, and asked Envy if he'd like to try a pair just like them on. He'd promptly declined, his face turning red. He wasn't _that _observant.

But in return for that, he had more decent clothes on. They were nothing flashy, nothing expensive, just dark blue denim jeans and a loose, sleeveless black shirt with a metal brown belt slapped in the middle. He didn't look that bad. Winry had also bought him another two pairs of similar clothing. He'd declined the shoes, though; that was pushing it. He was more used to being barefoot anyways.

It was nearly noon. Ed looked at the huge clock tower in the middle of the marketplace and his faced turned serious, telling Envy he was sorry but that he'd have to change back into his old clothes. Envy shrugged. Ed grinned and hung his head apologetically. "We're gonna have to eat as we walk, there's not enough time."

"… I'm going to change…"

Envy turned his back to them and went in one of the private dressing rooms in the store to change. He felt almost sorry that Ed had bought him. _WhywhyWHY is he so goddamned nice? _Well…not exactly nice… just somewhat naïve... no, that wasn't the word for it. Envy gave up searching, instead going for going over what exactly Ed had done…

He'd offered to give Envy the same food he himself ate, at the same place he ate, at the same level while having no idea how Envy felt about his servile, his lower-than-dirt position. With just that one statement, Ed had suggested again, without a second's hesitation, that they were _equals_. Envy was finding it hard to be angryaround Ed… when just a while ago he was thinking that he didn't need friends, that he didn't need anyone, that Ed would be a piece of cake to ignore. _Funny how people's opinions can change in just a few hours… _

He didn't want to be beholden to Ed, and yet couldn't deny him when he offered something. He hated it, hated things that were out of his control, things he couldn't stop. Envy didn't reallylike Ed— his reaction to Ed's unexpected advance the day before was out of shock and not attraction— golden eyes and all— but he couldn't possibly be anything other than civil to Ed, because when compared to all his other masters, Ed was like some merciful angel here to bring him to nirvana… he shouldn't think that way. Ed wasn't an angel, and he didn't deserve heaven.

_I have something that I must do… and that's to kill Dante. Doubt any God will accept me after I complete my mission._

He wouldn't forget his other masters or the other people in the world just because Ed was decent to him… Envy almost smiled at the absurdity of the thought as he pulled the top of his black two-piece over his bare chest. No, he wouldn't forget… he could never forget.

&

_The first lesson had been the hardest. The boy was chained in the very back of the cold stone room, dripping sweat and blood and staving off his intense hunger by sheer willpower and pride alone. The day before, he'd run off and suffered a severe beating. It wasn't his fucking fault. He wasn't expecting what the godforsaken "customer", as his master called him, had been about to do, and like any sensible human, had run from what scared him. It wasn't like he was trying to piss the man off; he was just acting on instinct._

_That day he'd done as the whorehouse owner had ordered, letting the disgusting male customer get on top of his naked form and do as he pleased. But he hadn't succumbed to the treatment, hadn't responded to the rough, lustful touch, the greedy, plundering tongue. He just lay beneath the crushing weight of the much older man like a lifeless doll, determined to resist as best as he could. If he couldn't resist, at least he didn't have to react._

_There was nothing in the world so fundamentally wrong as what had happened to him, but he couldn't yell out or complain or even hurt anyone. He was a prisoner in every aspect— attire, attitude, speech, even the way he walked. The door opened, letting in a small amount of dim light, something the damp room, reeking of the smell of human waste, lacked. The owner sneered at him. "Not good enough, boy."_

_He slapped the boy, who hissed as he bit down a cry and resumed staring at the man with a dull look in his eyes that hid the intense hatred lurking just beneath the surface. The man wasn't good enough to get angry over… he wouldn't admit that the man was his master, wouldn't do as he said…_

_"The customer wasn't very happy with your behavior. Your job, boy, is to please the customer and to make money off him. That's what whores do best. Use that useless head of yours. You're going to get laid either way, but one way makes more money that the other."_

I don't need you to fucking preach to me! Your advice is worth nothing._ The pale boy stared icily at the man, violet eyes clear, burning with the fire and hatred lacking the moment before. "It all goes to you, so what the fuck do I care?" he spat._

_The response was a hard punch to the gut. The boy's air supply was cut, and he dangled from the chains as he fought for air, breathing hard and laughing weakly, triumphantly, insanely. That was all he cared about… he didn't rationalize that he was in chains and that the man had the advantage, in weight, age, and position, all he knew was that he wanted to anger the man as much as possible before he lost consciousness, as he knew he would._

_That earned him another slap in the face. "Shut up, boy. It seems you haven't learned your lesson."_

_His tone and face turned ugly. "Say 'I'll try harder tomorrow, Master,' you filthy little whore."_

_There was a slight shaking of long dark hair as the boy stared at the man. "I won't."_

_"Say it."_

_"No."_

_The man took down the iron bullwhip he'd used on the boy the night before, a glint in his eyes as he looked down on the boy, who'd tensed his body, preparing to withstand the cutting blows again. He tightened his grip on the whip, the look in his eye turning murderous. "_Say it. Now._"_

Power play. Showing that he's the dominant one, no matter what I do._ The boy's eyes strayed to the potentially lethal whip, his defiance level going down as he recalled the excruciating pain of the other night. He didn't want to give in… couldn't give in…but…_

_The owner's hand brought the whip down. The boy screamed. It went on again, just like the other night, but the boy's common sense and natural instinct finally overcame his pride as he screamed, "Master!"_

_The man stopped the beating, looking over his bleeding slave with a superior air. The boy squeezed his eyes shut as he rasped out, "I'll try harder tomorrow… Master…"_

_His master seemed satisfied. He sneered at the boy again, telling him, "A few more beatings like this and you'll be dead. I advise you not to play these games with me again."_

_He left in much the same fashion as the last night. The boy found that he couldn't even cry. Now that he'd let go of his pride, the only thing left was his hope. All he could think about was the empty chasm in his stomach, about how much his body ached from letting the customer have his way with him, about how spilling so much blood wasn't right, about how absolutely _filthy _he felt, figuratively and literally speaking. He clutched his stomach and winced. "K'so… and he didn't even feed me…"_

_There was one more issue that was gnawing its way from his head to his heart and intoxicating his entire being… he looked to the sky. "Mommy's not here yet…Mommy…?"_

_"…When are you coming?"_

&

Envy grimaced. This was like how he'd woken up two days ago. His head hurt… He disliked remembering things. He _really hated_ remembering things. _I was such a fool for even waiting for Dante as long as I did… And the bastard didn't even feed me until the fifth day… when I finally started showing satisfactory results…_

Ed's voice reached him. "Envy, you done?"

"Yeah… be out in a minute."

Envy looked back into the mirror, his slender fingers touching his pale face, as though searching for something he couldn't find, before he shook his head. It was only on the inside that people felt dirty, he wasn't about to see it right there on his face… _I want to be clean again. I want to go back in time, when I was still a fucking _virgin_, I want everything that happened ever since Dante sold me to be just a dream…_

_Do I want Ed to be just a dream? _Envy quickly drove that thought away from his head as he scowled into the mirror and quickly rebuked himself for even thinking about _Ed _when he didn't, _shouldn't_ even matter, and went back to his original train of thought. _What I want will never_ _become a reality because once time passes, it's never regained… _Thinking like that didn't help matters at all, and he seemed to be having a lot of useless thoughts and useless memories coming back lately…

"This is stupid…"

He pulled on his headband and joined Ed outside the store. Ed took a deep breath and gave both Winry and him one of his let's-go-kick-ass grins. "Well, let's go."

&

_.:Owari:._

&

A/N: I actually finished the chapter! Summer school/extra classes just started (and I'm going into high school, too), so I have less time at the computer, but I'll try to update regularly. Strangely enough, the Envy/childhood/flashback was the part I most enjoyed writing… gah. I'm such a sadistic bastard. xD

Big thank yous to **Reviewer**, **Maruken**, and **Isisoftheunderground **for being consistent and absolutely _awesome_ reviewers for all three chapters so far! Thanks to everyone else who reviewed chapter 3, too. I'm only answering those people who either ask me things or who write something interesting that I'd like to respond to.

**kiellne**: maybe not quite "ripe" yet ;D. I can't read much Chinese either… Do you have AIM? I could send you the BBI opening if you want xD;.

**Zeila E**: Thanks for reviewing again:3. No, I can't write hiragana, or kanji, for that matter (I know there's nothing other than my age and height in my profile, but just so you know, I'm Chinese… xD).

**Kireishi-chan**: Why don't you actually give me a review and not rant about something off-topic? Just kidding xD, it's okay, as long as you're reading… (cough, andyou'resupposedtohate/beneutraltoyaoitoo, cough)… and ooh, I wanna see Aki's dad's wrench! Now both Riza _and _Winry have wrenches.

General public: Umm, well, I'm getting better at writing. I didn't exactly edit this or the last chapter, so tell me if you noticed any error. I saw a pretty obvious grammar error in the last chapter… the next dedication goes to whoever finds it first! xD

Review!


	5. Chapter 5

**Koukyuu no Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

Random A/N: OMFG I GOT THE SIXTH HARRY POTTER!

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Chapter 5

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_What's he thinking about? _Ed wondered. Envy was just glowering into space, walking with his face downcast and acting, for all he knew, like a girl who was PMSing. Not that he knew anything about it, it was just what he heard sometimes. Envy had acted like a normal person for most of the morning, and then started ignoring the world around noon, staring at a fencepost ahead of him like he wanted to strangle it.

_Did I do something wrong? _Guilt flashed through him for a split second. Envy knew what he was getting himself into when he said he'd help Ed. By getting into the harem, he'd gain access to the entire palace's inner chambers, and that was where they had to have kept Al. But as a result of that, he was still _part of the harem_, the group of the King's "favorites." And being new, he'd be the one paid the most attention to, by a king who was obviously used to using women as toys and not people. And even someone who'd spent years as a prostitute wouldn't like that, especially if that someone was Envy, who had too much pride to be suited to that position. _I'm the one practically forcing him to go._

And yet, if he looked on the bright side of things, he was also the one who saved Envy from probably a lifetime at that whorehouse owner's place. Well— perhaps not a lifetime, but Envy would have had a hard time getting free. He'd shortened that expanse of time… but how did he know what would've happened to Envy if he hadn't come along anyways? _There's so much I don't know about him…_

That wasn't important right now. What was important was the mission… _That's right… the mission. Of all of us, _he'd _be the one who'd be in the most jeopardy…all for freedom… but slave or no, he really doesn't have any obligation to me. He doesn't have to go through this just to rescue a near-stranger's little brother. If he gets caught, if he dies— then that'd be my fault. _

A random part of his brain added in, _Al would do this for me, too. _

Ed took a moment to muse about just how Envy was similar to Alphonse. Oh, sure, Al was calmer, had a steadier head, wasn't quite as _unpredictable_, but they both would sit at the riverside when they were pissed with him, forgave him as quickly as he'd said he was sorry (he wasn't actually sure if Envy had forgiven him yet, but at least he'd given up being hostile), and were _vulnerable_. Vulnerable and innocent and strangely _important _to him. They were both reasons for his guilt, but he couldn't possibly get _rid _of them, because then he'd be a mere _child_, getting rid of the reasons for his guilt to make himself feel better.

"Hey, Envy."

"_What_?" the dark-haired slave snapped. Ed blinked, then grinned good-naturedly (_definitely unpredictable_) and raised his hands defensively. "You know what to do, right?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll fuck with the fucking king and then after that I'll steal the keys from the guards and get your little brother out before I'm detected, right?"

Ed winced. "I didn't ask you to do any…"

Envy gave him a wry smile. "…prostitute work? You're an idiot. How else am I supposed to get in and out? Whatever. I'm used to the whole fucking process anyways. If I'm lucky, he'll tire out fast. If not, I guess I'll have to last for a few rounds…"

Ed was extremely uncomfortable with this discussion. For someone who hated his position, Envy sure was blunt about what he did. Ed coughed and said, "…yeah. Anyways, you know what he looks like, right?"

"I can guess," Envy replied tersely.

"We'll be waiting for you right outside the gate, a little to the left where there're no patrols, got that?"

"Mm."

"And you remember the map of the palace we showed you, right? The harem is just right of the dungeon."

"Mm."

Ed stared at him for another moment— _he's not answering, that's not good_— before giving him a light jerk of the chains and told him soberly, "Envy, look, I'm _sorry_, alright?"

That earned him a quizzical expression from the older boy. "What? What for?"

He ran his metal hand through his blonde hair, slowly destroying his already messy braid, and shrugged. "Everything, I guess."

Envy blinked, then rolled his eyes and told him, "Worry about yourself."

Ed could see that this was getting nowhere. "Right."

&

The cloaked man journeyed with the group of loosely dressed travelers. It was another hot day in the desert for everyone else, trudging up paths that only the native or highly educated knew about, paths that would eventually lead into the city. He himself was not there for tourism. He was there for another reason, one that he kept to himself. Blending in had been easy. His skin was as dark as any of the people around him, and he had maintained a normal appearance, despite the fact that his face sported a strange looking x-shaped scar and that his sharp crimson eyes had a look about them that suggested a dark past.

The man's jaw was clenched. It had been days and he was no closer to his destination— king Greed's palace— than when he'd started out. _But I will get there. For her, for my brother, for _meHe clutched at an amulet circled around his neck and continued walking in quickened strides.

&

Ed's POV 

He was the most noticeable one there, with his resolute, amethyst eyes, pretty features, and his cloud of long, dark hair, but that didn't mean he would get chosen. Ed had started sweating. What if Envy didn't make it in? The slave market was large, and Envy wasn't really anything _special_. There were many people here selling human goods (Ed wanted to gag, but that wouldn't fit in with his master role), many claiming to have captured royalty or other important people from faraway lands for the king's enjoyment and honor. _What a bunch of phonies…_

_But how do we compare against them?_

Envy's POV 

Envy saw his master's nervous look, and had given him a haughty smirk and mouthed for him not to be an idiot, that he knew what to say. The woman who was judging the slaves on the huge, theater-like stand had already gotten rid of perhaps five hundred of slaves, leaving less than a hundred left, and he had a good chance against most of the fools that were left. He couldn't help but be disgusted by her apparel: it was a showy ballroom dress, with many layers in it and covered with a cloud of bright silk and other expensive cloths— typical of a noblewoman, especially in a crowd of lowly slaves.

But there was something about her that caught his eye—something familiar… he took a moment to carefully scrutinize her features, ignoring the dress and concentrating instead on her face, her body, her movements... She had dark, glossy hair, pale, creamy skin, a slender figure— and violet eyes. Envy's eyes widened. It was too much of a coincidence. She resembled— well, _him_.Suddenly, he remembered those features. They hadn't changed a bit, despite the years that had passed. He clenched his fists, keeping his eyes on the woman, and growled, "_Dante_…"

_"Don't worry, Mommy's going to get you soon. Be a good boy and wait here."_

_"Okay."_

He had waited for her. He'd waited like the fool he was. He'd have even waited for days on end if the owner of the whorehouse hadn't taken him in and made a prostitute of him, had told him the truth of where his mother had gone and why she'd left him there, all alone in a miserable place that would ensure that he was _alive_, the absolute least any mother could do, was obligated to do. His lips curled as he thought bitterly, _Oh yes, she left me alive. I'm _so _very grateful for that._

A child had been waiting in the dark, waiting for light to spill on him again, waiting in tense silence for his sense of unreasonable fear and anguish to be dulled as the person he recognized, the person he trusted, the person he _loved_, would pick him up and murmur soothing endearments in his ear, telling him not to be afraid, telling him that everything would be alright. That child had waited forever, maturing into a man who had ceased waiting and had been left only anger and despair. And she still never came.

Envy remembered the childish words that he would ask to someone who wasn't there, every night he'd cried himself to sleep. _"Mommy, where are you? When are you coming?"_

_Well, I'm gonna be giving a bit of the hell I suffered to you, Mother._

The selection went on.

Ed's POV 

He wanted Al there. Al had always been there, backing him up, providing a quiet sense of comfort in his bad times, giving him strength, and it felt strange, almost _wrong _for Al _not _to be there. _Take me, don't take him, he didn't deserve anything… _

There were now less than thirty people left, and this was where they really got to be picky. The fancy, young-to-middle-aged woman was now two people away from Envy, who had tensed and was casting dangerously murderous glances her way. Ed noticed that his fists were clenched, and he seemed to be fighting violent urges. _Whoa. Does he know her or something? _

_If he does, that must be one hell-of-a grudge he's got…_

_Like me and Tou-san._

"Hohenheim…"

He'd been a complete bastard and Ed had never liked him. Whenever he got back from one of his long "business trips," which usually took longer than two months (one of them had taken him nearly a year), he would greet the family as though he actually knew them well, as though he'd never been away. Playing the perfect father when he was never around to be needed. It made him so frustrated. Neither his mother nor Al had noticed— well, they knew never to mention Hohenheim's name in his presence, but they both welcomed Hohenheim warmly whenever he came back, both pretended that there was nothing bad about his utter lack of a fatherly figure in his sons' lives. The only thing that ever prevented him from punching the man's face in was the fact that his mother loved his father and he respected his mother's wishes.

And now, his father had been away for over two years, with no word to tell his family of his doings, to soften his mother's growing look of anxiety and her awkward smiles that scarcely served to disguise her concern, to just tell them that he was _alright_. "Not like I care," Ed muttered under his breath. It was the rest of the family that cared.

"What's your name, boy?"

Ed's head snapped up. The woman was now before Envy, who had stiffened completely before coolly replying, "Envy. Ma'am."

_Envy… I don't think that attitude's going to get you in… _but because of it, Envy had just indirectly told Ed that he _did _know the woman. She didn't appear to recognize him though. Both of them were eye to eye, leveling each other up, studying the other's expression.The woman abruptly smiled and told him, "You're in."

She then gave him a nasty look and said, "King Greed likes the spirited ones. He'll have you down on your knees before you know it."

"You're sold, boy."

&

Alphonse Elric had been moved from his solitary jail to one with two people already occupying it. It was a crude sort of chamber, but the place looked fitter for living than the dungeon he was in before. It was still gloomy and dark, but at least it wasn't cold.

One of his roommates, a dark-skinned woman with a long curtain of wavy, dark hair and reddish eyes looked at him, with more sympathy than curiosity. She asked him throatily, "Where're _you_ from?"

Al didn't suppose it could've hurt to tell her, especially being the trusting person he was, so he answered, "Risembool. It's pretty far from here."

The woman's full lips turned upwards, and she told him quietly, "I've heard of it. This isn't my native land. I come from the Ishbal. You do know where that is, right?"

_Ishbal? The place the military is at war with right now? _Al decided not to ask and told her brightly, "Yeah. My name is Alphonse Elric. What's yours?"

A higher voice from behind him giggled. "You really are new, if you still have your real name."

A young boy emerged from behind a curtain and grinned at Al. He had long black hair and bright blue eyes, with an innocent sort of face that didn't quite suit his surroundings. The woman silenced him with a warning look. She then turned to Al and told him with a piercing gaze, "They call me Lust."

The boy's grin turned wider as he said, "And I'm Wrath. King Greed likes to call us by the Seven Deadly Sins. You'd be fit for Sloth or Pride, I think."

He laughed, and Lust told him to hush again. Al thought that the boy was a little out-of-line and too cheerful for someone who was in a place like this, but then, who was he to judge? There were many different kinds of people in the world. He asked them, "Are you two prisoners?"

Lust stared at him for a while, silent, and he was about to take back his question when she answered, in a whisper, "We're all prisoners… I hear a new one is coming in with us today…"

Alphonse didn't know how to respond to that, which was just as well, because Lust was had turned silent. He backed against a corner and pulled his arms around his legs in a half-crouching, half-fetal position. He wasn't cold anymore, but he still felt alone and lost without his brother.

_Nii-san…please come soon…_

&

_.:Tsuzuku:._

&

A/N: Sorry if it's shorter than normal and if I made mistakes I shouldn't have. It's really late right now and I can't really concentrate… but I wanted to update, cause I took a long time for this chapter.

Dedicated to **Isisoftheunderground **for getting the incorrect sentence right! You get a cookie for reviewing all four chapters within a day of when they each were updated xD.

-3- And thank you to everyone else who reviewed! 3

**envylover1414**: Aw, thanks. Yeah, school is a bummer…

**Zeila E**: Zeila! Hi! Um… I might update my other stories… if I get writer's block on this story… it's not that likely to be anytime soon though, so, sorry. And yeah, I noticed the two paragraphs… it wasn't my fault, honestly, it was fanfictiondotnet's! Seems that every time I edit and save the document, random two words get mashed together. This time I edited it either two or three times, so I guess that's the reason.

**Inuyasha loves sake**: Hm. I should do that (did). Thanks for the suggestion.

**xtormentedxkitsunex**: ehh, he didn't want Ed to put them on for him and he thought that they were going to leave right away and not later in the day? It's probably one of the many faults with my writing… no, I don't think it was your English, that part of the chapter itself was slightly confusing.

**kiellne**: (coughs) yes, yes he was a kid. You'll see about Greed… and by the way, take a look at my rating. Although it _is "_yaoi", it's a bit tilting more to shounen-ai; I don't think there's going to be any actual lemon, because even though I've read some, it takes _skill _to make it both satisfying _and _not repulsive, plus, though I did make inferences, I don't like writing lemon in detail (actually, that's just my excuse for it; I've never _tried_ writing lemon before ) maybe I should…?). This story was some sort of experiment of mine, trying to see just how daring I can be when venturing in the dark side of things. If you take a look at my other stories (which you probably won't, considering they're Tamora Pierce and Yu Yu Hakusho), you'd see that I write with a less dark tone. But anyways, thanks for reviewing.

PS: You _could_ just get AIM for free without AOL. I use Mozilla FireFox.

**Maruken**: Aw, it's okay if you reviewed late. Oh yeah, I got your snake reference. So you like (there's ten letters in this), eh? It's okay, lots of people like him… even though he's an evil bastard, like Envy, he's still a cool evil bastard. I prefer evil bastards like Itachi, though. Did you know that in the manga, Scar was the one who killed Winry's parents and not Roy? I actually prefer the anime's version of things, because it gives Roy all the more reason to hate the Fuhrer, but the manga rocks too. The two have clashing storylines, though, so it's better to look at them separately. Oh, and you just gave me some ideas with your questions about everything. I really appreciate all of your awesome comments, so thanks!

**Tennis-tensai**: you shouldn't put yourself down like that, I appreciate all reviews xD. Especially with all the people in the world who read and _don't _review.


	6. Chapter 6

**Koukyuu no Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

&

Chapter 6

&

Alphonse woke up to blinding light spilling into the dark room. "Nnnf…?" He groped around for some kind of support, walls, anything, and sat up, rubbing his eyes. How long had he been asleep? His hazel eyes fixed on the bright light source: it came from outside. It was amazing, really, how a dark room could feel like eternal night even when it was broad daylight outside.

The light was temporarily blocked as a dark, chained figure lumbered into the room. A guard roughly shoved the long-haired, notably male person into the room, barking a command to "stay there, you filthy whore!" The boy stood, unflinching, as the door slammed shut. A silence followed, leaving Alphonse thinking, _Lust-san was right, there _is _a new person in here with us…_

The dark-haired boy studied the room, his right hand on his slender hip; his lips slowly transformed into a taunting smirk as his violet eyes landed on Alphonse. "Yo," he called, "Alphonse Elric, right? Golden Boy Edward's little bro?"

Alphonse blinked. "Wha…? … yes…"

"Thought so," the other boy said with another smirk. He crouched, his eye level with Al's (who was sitting cross-legged). "That makes my job all that much easier. Your absolute _genius _of an older brother was _sure _you were in the dungeons somewhere, getting beaten up on and god knows what."

There was no missing the obvious sarcasm in that voice, and Alphonse defended his brother, "Well, he was mostly right. I _was _in the dungeon, yesterday and the day before. I don't know why they moved me, but…"

_Wait, he knows Ed, so that means… _Al's eyes widened, hopeful, as he asked, "You were sent to get me?"

"That's a brilliant deduction, Smart One," the boy taunted. "Why else do you think I know Edward no o-chibi-san?"

Al couldn't deny that his brother was short, and this boy didn't seem to pose a threat— he was here to rescue him, after all— so he didn't tell him to knock it off, merely that he shouldn't say that when Ed wasn't there— there was no one to get a rise out of. Alphonse sat up in a more comfortable position, rubbing his now-numb thighs as he asked, "What's your name?"

The boy rubbed the back of his neck as he grimaced and replied, "Envy."

Al's eyebrow raised quizzically as he thought, _Was he named before or after he was bought? Envy is another one of the Seven that Lust-san mentioned, and… well, it would be rude to ask. But it is quite a coincidence._ Envy was still crouching, though this time his eyes were closed. "I want to ask you something."

"Ne?"

"Do you trust Ed?"

Alphonse felt that the question was ridiculous. How could he not? "Of course I do!" he responded, feeling slightly annoyed that Envy had to ask something like that. It wasn't any of his business, and even if it was, he should've known the answer already! Ed was his brother, for crying out loud!

Envy made a small guttural sound, which may have been either agreement or disbelief. He inspected Al's face, as though merely curious about his answer. "Why?"

_Because he exists. Because he's Edward Elric. Because his hair's blonde like mine and his eyes are a shade of gold lighter than but essentially similar to mine. Because I love him..._ _I'd always wondered what it really meant to say, "I love you." Would we die for each other? I don't know about that, but at least I know that we can live for each other. He's my brother, and he's like a best friend to me. I wouldn't trust anyone else. _Al matched Envy's gaze with his own fiercer version of it and said simply, "Because he's Nii-san."

Envy's eyes had a certain emotion in them— a mix of pain and approval— as he breathed softly, with a light chuckle, "Just because you do, huh? You're naïve. Innocent. _Stupid_. Perhaps that's for the best."

_Stupid…? _Alphonse thought, perplexed and perhaps a little insulted, but not enough to snap back. _Stupid for believing in Nii-san? Why? Why shouldn't I?_

"Do you, Envy-san?"

Envy blinked, looking bewildered. "Do I…?"

"Do you trust him?"

He didn't answer for a moment, then grinned boyishly, resembling Ed for a moment _– that's not good, Ed always does that when he's keeping something from me — _and flicked his finger and thumb at Al's forehead, saying, "That's for me to know and for you to find out. If we get out of here alive."

That was altogether too blunt, but Al appreciated the fact that Envy wasn't treating him like a kid, that he wasn't keeping their status away from him. Another voice greeted them with a low mumble.

"Envy?"

Wrath had awaken, yawning slightly, and was looking bleary-eyed at Envy, who raised his eyebrow. Wrath grinned, his speech slightly slurred since he'd just woken up. "That's perfect. Now all we need is Pride, Sloth, and Gluttony, and we're set." He laughed, then amended, "Actually, we only need two more people, cause Alphonse here is gonna be one of the three."

_Still too happy,_ thought Al. Envy stared at the strange boy and looked slightly _are-you-crazy-or-what _and looked like he was about ask Alphonse to verify what the hell Wrath was saying before the prison door opened yet again. "You. The new prisoner. The king wants to see you."

"You mean me or him?" Alphonse _had _only been brought there a few hours ago, give or take a few minutes. Envy was grinning, deliberately taunting the guard, who was as stoic and unfazed as the one who was guarding Alphonse's door two days back.

"The new slave. Envy. Get out. That's an _order_."

He sighed, and got up slowly, slowly enough to wear out the guard's patience. The guard didn't move, but Alphonse thought he saw his hand shaking slightly, a sign of impatience or anger. He grinned. Envy was good at this. Finally, he exited the door, head held high. He looked back once and mouthed, _Just wait for me_. Alphonse lifted his chin to show that he understood.

&

"Piece of shit," Ed commented, looking at a new automail part Winry was banging on. Winry looked up from her work, blinking in irritation, and snapped at him, "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing."

"Didn't things go as planned?"

"Yes," he answered dully. When he was younger, he'd occasionally found it amusing to pretend he was a master and Al was a slave, mockingly snapping an invisible whip and telling Al to run faster, and when Al stumbled onto him on purpose, telling him that he was a stupid jerk, they would laugh it off together. But he didn't like what was in store for Envy back at the palace. Envy was a whore. The king would do _this_… and _that_… and maybe even _that_… His mind was being supplied with extremely unpleasant images, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Is this about Envy?"

Ed snapped up, meeting Winry's blue eyes, muttering, "…how'd you guess…?"

"Women know all," she replied, ignoring his sarcasm. "You're getting too attached to him when you know that when you let him go, he'll be gone from your life forever."

Ed snapped, "What the hell do you mean by "too attached"? What makes you think I'm getting attached to the little freak?"

She answered smoothly, "It's a good thing he's not here right now cause if he was, you'd be in big trouble, Ed. You call people things you don't mean when you're bothered by something."

Ed's metal hand found his way to his hair yet again, an action he found he was doing a lot nowadays. It was one of those unconscious things that relieved stress for absolutely no reason at all. "What do you know?"

Winry was one of his closest friends, though he'd never admit it to here in person— she was like a sister to him, was one of the people he'd do anything to protect, but that he'd kept secrets from so that they wouldn't get hurt. He knew that though her face remained passive, he was hurting her right now, but he really couldn't care less at the moment. She smiled. "You like him."

"Where the hell do you get off saying that? And I'm not a fag!"

She was used to his language; besides, she used foul enough terms herself. But it wasn't like he hadn't thought about liking Envy himself, and his answer was NO, he _didn't_. He'd thought about how he'd acted with Envy before— nice, but in a friends-only, hands-off way. The only thing that crossed the line was the scene at the riverside, and he'd already concluded that the near-kiss was an accident, he wasn't himself, he'd wanted to feel someone's touch since Al wasn't there to provide it, he was _not romantically interested! _Winry was still smiling that annoyingly superior smile, and wagged her finger at him. "I saw that little scene at the riverside, you can't fool me, Ed. You like him, and you're going to admit it, right here, right now."

"No fucking way."

She looked disgusted. "Boys. They know what they want and the instant it's discussed seriously, they back away like they'd never wanted it. I swear, they're such cowards."

"That's not going to work on me, Winry."

She blinked innocently. "What? I'm not trying anything. I'm just stating a fact. You're the one not being honest with yourself." She grinned. "I should've taken a picture of you right then and there when you were about to kiss him. You looked so— _interested _in him that it wasn't even funny."

"Just get off my case," he grumbled. Women. They'd never change their opinions once they've come to their own conclusion. It wouldn't do any good to argue with Winry. She'd already gotten it into her head that Ed liked Envy. Which he _didn't_. Like she said. As soon as Envy was free, he was _gone_, right? There. End of story. Nothing more to say.

Except…somehow… _why don't I want him to go?_

&

"The riots are getting worse," Riza Hawkeye commented in a perfect monotone, eyeing a report she held in her hand. Roy had his forefinger to his temple, which meant he was already irritated. He sat up in his chair, asking in an attempt at a casual voice, "Fullmetal hasn't reported yet?"

"No, sir."

The phone rang. "Colonel Mustang reporting."

"Roy! My daughter is turning three next week!" There were kissing sounds in the background. Roy pictured a little heart appearing magically on top of Maes Hughes's head before stamping it out of his mind in irritation— he was annoyed enough already— and growled as Hughes plowed on, not taking the hint. "Oh yes, and I'm planning on—"

"Maes!" He yelled into the phone. "Some of us have work to do!"

"Yes, but Elysia wants a teddy bear, and I was thinking that—"

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. King Greed is attacking our border checkpoint. We're bordering on war here and all you can think about is _you daughter's birthday_?"

He slammed the phone down. It didn't matter if he offended Maes, he knew he would be forgiven. The other man was like that. He began massaging his forehead. He wasn't in the mood for Hughes' rants about his daughter. And he didn't think anyone else was either. Riza brushed past him and told him, "Colonel, please use the phone quietly."

He ignored her and muttered, "If Edward doesn't report soon…"

&

Envy couldn't see the king's face, only his mouth. He was in the shadows of his throne. He was dressed in a fur-bearing black overcoat, rather unconventional for a king, but a hell-of-a-lot-better than stereotypical kings with huge white beards, a potbelly, and red fur capes. Envy could see that he was young, perhaps thirty at most, and he was extremely well built too, with arms that could crush him had he wanted to kill him; Envy wasn't jealous, only wary. A slave wasn't given enough free time to get a proper work out, and whores weren't meant to be muscular. The old master had tried to get his form as feminine as possible.

It wasn't quite the time to speculate on how the king appeared, especially when his mouth turned up into a wide, cruel grin. He could tell that Greed was sadistic, powerful, _greedy_, and that he would, as Dante said, _bring him to his knees_. Envy didn't back down. He would do as he was ordered to do. And he would save Alphonse. And then he could kiss Edward's ass good-bye and find a way to get to Dante. Even so, Envy couldn't help but give an involuntary shiver as Greed spoke.

"Envy… welcome."

&

_.:Tsuzuku:._

&

A/N: Okay. **I'm taking a vote. Who wants lemon in this story?**

&

**Zeila E**: Ha! First Reviewer! Anyway, sankyuu for the comment anyway, and it's okay that you didn't criticize, and yeah, I know what you wrote on your bio, but I was just going into a rant about what I found worthy to be "OMG'd" at in HP6, at that particular moment, not that I missed anything in the book ;D.

**Kireishi aka kari**: NO! DID YOU JUST DISS HARRY POTTER? WHADDYOU MEAN, "STUPID BOOK"? (coughsandisoverreacting)… but seriously. You don't read HP? YOU! EVIL PERSON! (mauls you)

**TheRealInuYasha**: Thank you for the review! And for getting obsessed (EnvyEd rocks). And HP6 also kicked major ass. I WANT 7! 6 had such an unsatisfying ending, even if it was good.

**Kiellne**: Hmm… I'll think about that. I'll probably e-mail it to you or something if I make it (looks at your bio for your e-mail), but you'll probably be one of the few who read it (btw, it'll be a completely separate story) because my friends don't quite know how twisted up I am yet (only my close ones do). By the way, I'm really kind of too young to write lemon (cough don't lose your faith in me yet! cough). But I might try xD.

**Envy's slave girl**: Ummmm…. Whatever I told Kiellne. And I get the detail part, but about the lemon, _please _don't push me into using lemon, yet. I'm still an author!virgin. Meaning that although I've lost my innocence long ago, I still haven't _written_ or _done_ anything yet. Get my meaning? ;

**Isisoftheunderground**: I was wondering why you hadn't reviewed for two days, but this is a legitimate reason. Anyways, thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

**Koukyuu no Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

Sorry for the long-time-no-update. School is starting in a little more than a week, so… well, I think I'll be able to get out the next two or three chapters out before it starts. I'll just have to write like crazy. xD I didn't write for a while because I was trying to write something for the BBI contest (see my new one-shot story **Boku wa Koko ni Iru : I am Here**)… and it took a long time, and in the end, I was too late to submit it anyways... so that was a waste of time…

Thanks for reviewing! xD;; There's probably not going to be any lemon in this chapter, and maybe not in the next. But really, around ninety percent of you wanted lemon! A few were undecided, and only two or three people didn't want lemon… You perverts. XDD

Apparently, ffdotnet now forbids writers to answer reviews. That is… really… _stupid_. But there're really too many reviews for me to answer now anyways, and so… I guess I'll conform to the rule. Just know that I still love every single one of you. xDD

&

Chapter 7

&

_I am greedy_. That was why he'd called himself Greed. And he wanted everything. Everything. Money, possessions, power, land, women, even men occasionally. Especially breathtaking men like Envy. Greed smiled tauntingly as he took in Envy's creamy skin, his virtual waterfall of abundant dark hair, his flat, toned stomach— he had a very good shape. Not good as in he was built like a heavyweight body builder, and certainly not good enough to be an assassin, who would be in peak physical shape, but he had a very appealing shape; slender, with smooth, taut skin that fit well with his small muscles. _He would've made a beautiful woman._

He also liked the slight apprehensive look on Envy's pale face. _That's good_. Envy was afraid. Greed didn't like indifferent whores.

Lust glazed over Greed's eyes for a moment. Envy made the perfect picture of subtle seduction, something like a jungle cat, a smooth, sleek, dark creature, in revealingly tight clothes that perfectly defined his well-formed body. The picture was made perfect by the chains bound tightly around his thin wrists and neck. Proving that he was the superior, and Envy nothing more than an object for his entertainment. Inferior.

Of course, pure carnal desire and a need to satisfy his increasingly large ego was only a part his plan. A plan that he'd only confided in one woman— truth be told, she was the one who'd suggested it, but Greed wasn't going to admit that. She'd introduced herself as Lyra; she was beautiful, perhaps the type he liked in bed, but too cunning for him to keep a light rein on, unlike his other whores. She wouldn't even count as a whore, as he'd never tried to use her once he'd discovered her intelligence. Emotion was never good to have in someone you talked strategies with. She was more like a personal advisor that he'd kept in the palace. And she'd told him about Envy earlier. About exactly why he was important in the plan. About his relation to her, though he didn't know that she knew. Greed's grin widened. The family resemblance was strikingly obvious.

"Envy… welcome."

&

Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc noticed a letter addressed to the Colonel in the mountain of letters and notes in the post office. Roy had been pissed off the whole afternoon. Maybe this would lighten his mood. Havoc's face paled. As long as this wasn't an invitation for a date from his current girlfriend… she'd been ignoring him recently.

He walked to Roy's office, handing him the letter. "Here. It's none of my business, but warn me if my girlfriend threatens to break up with me for you, okay? Enough girls have dumped me."

_Don't know why they prefer you…_he thought sarcastically. Roy had opened the letter and Havoc thought he saw his face relax a little. He let out an unconscious sigh; that wasn't a new-girlfriend face. "It's from Fullmetal, isn't it, boss?"

"Mm." Roy was bad at hiding his concern for the boy, and he tended to stress about him more than was necessary for a Colonel and someone under him. Havoc grinned. He rather thought that Roy was adopting Ed as a younger brother. He was protective of him like Ed was of Alphonse. Meanwhile, in his chair, Roy was unconsciously reading the short, hastily scribbled note out loud.

"Bought a slave to help me with my mission. Don't you dare laugh, it was necessary. We should be back in about two weeks if this goes well. Can't say much more. Not much to see. There're soldiers all over the place, if that helps. The slave market's thriving, too."

Roy brought his hand over his head as he continued to peer at the note, before letting out a short laugh as he reached the end. "As if, Fullmetal."

Havoc peered curiously at the last line. Roy had already read most of the note out loud; it wouldn't hurt to look at the remaining bit of it.

"_P.S.: I won't die before you, colonel shit."_

"Well," Havoc verified, grinning, "you are older, sir. Like, twice his age."

"We're only thirteen years apart, Lieutenant. That's less than twice," Roy snapped.

He then took his hand from his head and grinned, slightly cynically, and murmured, "Well, at least he reported in."

Havoc asked permission to leave. He'd promise his girlfriend that he'd meet her at the Central library to go to the movies (he'd received no answer, but he'd assumed that she would be there). Besides, Roy needed some alone time. The boss was definitely beginning to think of Edward as a younger brother. Waiting without being able to do anything for someone you cared about was stressing. Havoc looked back at Roy as he was at the door. "Boss. He can take care of himself."

"Yes. I know that."

Havoc stared at the Colonel for another moment, then left him in the room alone.

&

"So tell me," Greed sneered as he thrust Envy onto the only bed in the royal chambers, one hand wound tightly around his slim neck and holding him in position as he whispered, snake-like, into his ear. "What exactly is Alphonse Elric to you?"

Envy struggled to breathe. Of all the people who'd used him, none of them had been this forceful. Any normal person would have completely panicked, but he was almost used to this. He wanted to laugh. 'Almost' didn't mean shit. He still felt scared, still felt helpless. _God. You'd think that over a decade of doing this would make me completely impervious to this kind of treatment. _Finally, he snapped— rasped, rather, "None of your business."

Greed tightened his grip. "I'll make it my business."

Envy gasped, shut his eyes, and tried to pry his hand loose. It didn't help. Greed had a grip like iron. "Now, look'ere, Envy…" Greed drawled, loosening his grip just a little but still making it tight enough for Envy to feel that same panic, that same helplessness. "Look at my face. You know I always get what I want, don't you? And that doesn't just go for your body. I want _domination_. Complete domination of everything. Because. You can never have enough, can you…?"

He got into a more sexually intimate position— sitting on top of him— and growled into his ear, "You're not worth shit. You don't mean _anything _to _anyone_. You're just a fucking _sex toy_ that can't even make up his own decisions. A worthless piece of scum."

"Shut… up…" He didn't care if this would get him in deeper shit that he already was in, _no one _talked to him like that! "Shut up, you son-of-a-bitch!"

"Now we're getting feisty, are we…" Greed murmured, flashing a wide, sadistic grin as he tightened his grip on Envy's neck yet again. This time he used his other hand to restrain Envy's thin wrists. "You know _why _you're lower than shit?"

Envy glared at him, breathing hard, not answering. Greed's grin went wider. "Because… _you do what everyone tells you to do, you whore_."

Envy wanted to slap him, to hurt him, to do _something. _Claw his eyes out, maybe. But Greed had evidently predicted his reaction, and his restraining hand effectively stopped him from attacking. "Now, Envy… you really don't want to be doing that… you could hurt yourself…"

Suppressed rage bubbled on the surface, but then Envy remembered the mission. _Ed… damn it… we made a deal… this shit this fucker is spouting doesn't mean anything… I have a job to do…_

Before he could stop it, Greed's voice echoed in his ear. _"You do what everyone tells you to do, you whore."_

That was because Edward was different! He was… he was… Envy growled at himself in frustration. Ed _was_ using him just like everyone else. It would be easy to manipulate Envy into thinking that Ed actually cared about him, and Envy knew it. Maybe, though… maybe…

He couldn't dwell on maybes. His life was on the line. He would have to play this through. Once he was free, he didn't have to see Ed again, didn't have to wonder if Ed really meant anything he said, wonder if he really was that wonderful, spirited boy that was impressed on him when they'd first met or if it was all just an act, all just a lie to use him. But that wasn't important _now_. Now he had to face down Greed. And be convincing about it. _Struggle a little more._

He hissed, "Fuck you."

"Ahh, yes… you get to do _that_, too. But only on my command." Greed grinned again. "Now that we are properly acquainted, let's get back to my initial question. What is Alphonse Elric to you?"

Envy gritted his teeth. _I have to play this through._

&

He had a bad feeling about this.

It was late. Sometime around where Envy should've been arriving with Alphonse. But they weren't there. Maybe he worried too much, but still. Still, it was natural. Alphonse was his brother, and Envy was… well, Envy was his responsibility. _Yeah, but he's one that you're worried about even more than your own brother… what kind of person are you anyway, Edward Elric? Of course… it would make more sense if you were attracted to him, but then again, you claim not to be, don't you?_

Ed grimaced. He hated voices in his head that tried to argue against his initial thoughts. They taunted him, made his head hurt. He also hated the fact that they were almost always right. "Damn it, I don't like Envy!"

"And I should probably apologize to Winry too…" he mused. His face quickly blanched. "Only if she apologizes first."

Back to the problem at hand. "Where the hell are they?"

"Looking for _this_?"

Ed's eyes widened as he pivoted swiftly, almost colliding with the person behind him. He jumped back. "Who the hell…"

The man wore a thick, furred black jacket and leather pants. He was grinning, but it wasn't a friendly gesture. "I'm Greed. I'm sure you've heard of me. Though, your plan was _very _poorly thought out, Edward. I must say, I expected more from the great Hohenheim's son."

"What're you…"

He was holding Envy. Dragging was a more appropriate term, because he was tied on a rope and lying near Greed's feet. He was bruised up, shivering, looking in almost every way defiled; his breathing was shallow and erratic. Edward tried not to cringe, but did so all the same. "Clever, to use my own greed against me, but I have friends in low places and they've informed me of your plan ahead of time…"

Greed was mocking him, and he knew it, but Ed didn't have the resources now to make a fuss about pride. "What do you want?"

Greed turned. "Lyra."

The fashionable woman who was judging the slaves came out from the other side of Ed. Alphonse was behind her. "Al! Al, what are you—"

Ed realized that Al was in chains, too. "Nii-san!" his brother called, in shaking voice. "Nii-san, they—"

"Be quiet," the woman cut in smoothly. "Or do you want to die?"

"What do you —"

"I said, be quiet!" She smacked Alphonse across the face, leaving a stinging red mark. Ed was furious. _Nobody talked _to Al like that, let alone _hit _him. "You don't have the fucking right to touch my little brother, you—"

"Now, Edward, let's not resort to name-calling," drawled Greed. "Do you want to know the terms of this agreement or not?"

Envy let out a low-pitched moan, clawing at his stomach area, coughing up blood, and Edward realized from his dilating pupils that Envy was doing so while he was unconscious. It wasn't a pleasant sight; in fact, it crept the hell out of him. This was Envy? Greed grinned again, explaining casually, "Feverdream. You know what that is? It's a powerful poison that stimulates part of the brain, causing lifelike hallucinations and powerful memory relapses. Envy here has seen worse than you can imagine, Eddy-boy, and you know what? The worse the memories, the quicker the victim dies. I'd say that Envy has around twenty minutes, maybe thirty, left. Now, the terms of our deal."

_What could Envy be seeing right now? _Ed didn't want to know. Judging from the expression on his face, it was like a virtual hell. He continued to make noises, but Edward didn't have time for that right now. "What?"

Greed wagged a finger at Ed. "Choose. Between your brother, or this antidote. You have thirty seconds to decide, Edward."

He held up a small glass phial full of a deep violet liquid. Ed grimaced. That shouldn't have been a hard choice. Under normal circumstances, he would choose Alphonse, hands down. And why not? Alphonse was everything to him. But he couldn't just let someone die when he could prevent it…

_Envy did this for me. It would be my fault for letting him die if I do. But Alphonse… Alphonse was the objective of this mission. Wouldn't it be better to succeed and give a tribute to Envy later?_

He could feel all eyes on him, and regretted ever letting Alphonse see him struggling to decide in what should have had an obvious decision. As he opened his mouth, however, Alphonse smiled and told him softly, "Choose the antidote, Nii-san, I don't want anyone to die because of me…"

His eyes widened. "Al, what are you—"

"Time's up," Greed said.

"The antidote, I want the antidote!" Edward finally screamed, face downcast, eyes closed. What was he, stupid? The antidote could've been a fake for all he knew, but he still chose it anyways. Stupid, _stupid_ Alphonse. He was always so considerate for others. Ed never could deny Alphonse. He was frustrated with himself, with his choice, but it was too late now. He could feel Greed watching him with approval, as though he'd predicted his choice. "Catch, Eddy-boy!"

"Don't call me that!" Ed growled as he caught the glass. Greed laughed, before whispering as a taunting farewell, "He was a good fuck," and leaving Edward with Envy as he walked back to the castle with Lyra and Alphonse. His brother didn't even look back, and that was enough to make Ed call out his name in a panicked voice. "Alphonse… Alphonse!"

It was too late. Al couldn't hear him now. Even if it wasn't intentional, Ed had made his decision. And now, he had to follow it through. He would see to Envy. They would have to find another way in.

&

_.:Tsuzuku:._

&

A/N: Please tell me what was wrong with this chapter because I feel **extremely** not satisfied with this chapter. I feel like I could have made it a lot better, but I'm not really in the mood right now to do so, so could you leave some critique? Not enough to hurt my feelings (xD) but enough to give me a kick-in-the-ass so I can reedit it and make it better. Thanks.

Review!


	8. Chapter 8

**Koukyuu no Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

Aha, I guess the only things I needed to improve in the last chapter were the descriptions? Um… well, I was mainly not satisfied with the chapter because I was writing it when I wasn't thinking clearly, and also, I thought that Ed let Al go too easily (not enough internal struggle), but… oh, well. Oh, and to **Envy Algaliarept**: I didn't misspell Phial. It's just Phial. It means exactly the same thing as Vial, though, and Vial is the more commonly used term, so that's okay. And about the lemon… well, a lot of people didn't want to see the GreedEnvy rape scene, so I didn't put it in. Rest assured, if Ed ever gets to try his hand, I'll put a lot more detail in it. XD

To everyone else: thanks for reviewing!

&

Chapter 8

&

"Damn it, Envy, swallow the damn thing," Ed said, gritting his teeth. There wasn't much of the antidote left, and not only was Envy's jaw a pain to pry open, but when he finally got the purple liquid in, Envy kept coughing it back out. He hoped that the dosage for the antidote wasn't the whole bottle because then they would be in really big trouble then.

_Twenty minutes…_ Ed remembered Greed's set warning. It must've been almost that time, give or take a few minutes. Envy looked no worse, but then again, he'd looked like shit upon first glance and it would be a miracle if he could manage to look even sicker.

"Stop…Master… I'll say the fucking thing… Master… Master!" Envy was moaning, amidst his erratic breathing, and Ed really didn't want to hear more. How could he force the antidote in…? The answer came to him after a mere moment of thinking, but just the thought of it made him flush. The jaw was the most powerful part of the body… but that would mean…

"DON'T TOUCH THERE! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH THERE!" Envy was screaming, tears starting to fall from his face now. Ed stared for a second, slightly torn with both righteous anger and pity for Envy — he didn't want to know what he was seeing, because not only did it sound wrong, it must have been very twisted for someone as strong as Envy to start crying— but quickly got back to the task at hand.

"Shut _up_…" he murmured to Envy, then poured the remaining contents of the glass bottle into his own mouth. He was really glad that though they had planned for them to go together, Winry had backed out at the last moment for reasons she wouldn't say. _Here goes nothing…_

"_I'm sorry! I'll be good! I swear! Just stop! I'll—_" Envy's hoarse screams were muffled when Ed's mouth pressed firmly against his. Ed forced the antidote in— by mouth, he thought wildly— and kept it there until he was sure that Envy had swallowed. Then he let go, gasping, and wondered why he was blushing furiously like that when all he'd done was something that could've been called CPR. It was just a transfer of liquids rather than air. But somehow, he still felt as though he was taking advantage of the situation and using the fact that he couldn't get the antidote in any other way as an excuse to touch Envy— which he_ wasn't_.

The effects of the antidote were immediate. Envy's breathing was still irregular, still gasping, but calming down, and so was his voice. He was murmuring incoherent things now rather than screaming. Ed wondered when he was going to wake up.

But Envy was still shivering. Instinctively, he pressed his left hand to Envy's forehead and almost jumped back with shock— it was _burning_. He couldn't use only one hand to feel his own temperature and Envy's at the same time, but that intensity of heat from a normal human wasn't normal. Ed blinked. _He's… sick?_

_Well, of course. Feverdream, remember? They wouldn't name it that unless something like this happened with the hallucinations… I guess. _But Ed wasn't good at this sort of thing— taking care of people and whatnot. Winry was an automail mechanic— close enough to a doctor. She helped people. She would be better for this. Better than him at any rate.

Slinging Envy over his back with unnatural ease, he proceeded to their hotel. He had several options to choose from. The obvious choice would be to wait until the fever died down before acting. _Damn… and I was hoping to leave the country by today…_

With Alphonse safely in their company. But that was impossible now. Ed gritted his teeth and reminded himself that it wasn't Envy's fault. He had only himself to blame for not thinking things out completely. He'd failed the first time around. He couldn't be sure that Alphonse would be kept safe. And it hurt. It hurt like hell. How could he face Winry? …How could he face Alphonse?

&

"I thought I told you to shut up," the woman— Lyra?— hissed into his ear. Alphonse merely looked at her calmly and replied, "You did."

She gave him a slap in the face. It was brutal enough for him to feel the red imprint on his face. She then told him coolly, "Don't give me your cheek. Your dear brother gave you up for a _whore_. Did you hear that? A sex-slave means more to him than you do."

He felt daring, and tensed himself up for another slap as he returned just as frigidly, "That whore is your son."

"Who told you that?" Her voice had hardened almost imperceptibly, and she was eyeing him suspiciously, almost dangerously.

"I did," said a deep male voice. Greed had entered Lyra's study with them. It was a beautiful room, decorated with red tapestry and bright hangings, as well as a virtual library of books stacked on dozens of rows of shelves and neatly organized hand-written documents, but it had a certain feel to it that Alphonse didn't quite like. He had never been quite as studious as his brother, though he liked to learn, but this feel was different. Perhaps it was the woman who worked in the room, and not the room itself, that wasn't quite right. "Now, I wish you wouldn't manhandle my precious hostages like that, they're… well, to put it bluntly, _precious_."

Lyra gave Greed an unnerving smile and bowed with all the courtly graciousness required of her position. "I beg your forgiveness, your Majesty. However… I'd hoped that you'd have kept that little bit of information about my son confidential."

Her tone of voice was bordering on accusation, but to Alphonse's amazement, Greed didn't rebuke her for her commanding air; he merely waved it off, and explained, "I do what I want with my hostages."

Lyra's smile was straining. "I… see. Well, you know best, your Majesty. If you'll excuse me."

A deep curtsy and Lyra had walked out of the room, leaving Greed and Alphonse alone. Greed leaned over to meet Alphonse's eye. "You're a nice kid, but I'll tell you in advance. There's _no one _you can trust in the world, not even your own brother, and you can learn the hard way or you can take it from me. Even your closest friend can end up stabbing you in the back. That's just the way the world works. Live for yourself, and yourself only."

Alphonse squirmed under his gaze, trying to ignore his words. _No. Nii-san is different. Nii-san would never betray me. He left me because I told him to. Doesn't that just prove that he'd do things no one else would for me?_ But inside, he knew that he'd been hoping that Ed would choose _him _despite what he'd said. He'd wanted Ed to make him his chief priority. Envy wasn't, _couldn't be_ replacing him as his brother's object of affection, but Alphonse still had been torn by Edward's indecisiveness. _Nii-san… does he mean that much to you? _At the last second, Alphonse had decided that he couldn't be that bad of a person, to let someone die because of his selfishness, so despite everything, he'd still told Ed to go with Envy. He'd just hoped that he was making the right decision.

_I'm not going to let him get to me…_Alphonse inclined his head, and let Greed take him back to the crude hut. _You— no, _we_— failed the first time… but I trust you, Nii-san. I know you'll get me out somehow. _

Before he locked the door, Greed told Alphonse with a grin, "Your new name is Sloth. Oh, and one more thing."

His eyes flashed. "Hope is just an illusion. Give it up."

&

"You're so reckless!" Winry screamed into his ear. "How could you get Envy injured like that?"

Ed winced but didn't back down. Technically, Envy wasn't injured, just ill, but arguing with Winry wouldn't help the headache he was quickly developing. He'd already explained the situation to Winry, and half of him was expecting her to turn quiet and angst because he hadn't been able to rescue Alphonse, but, thank god, she was as domineering as ever. He never thought he'd be thankful that she was bossy, but for the moment, he needed someone to decide what to do because he was sick of making decisions.

He was about to lay Envy, sweat and blood and all, onto the bed, but Winry immediately stopped him and snapped, "He needs rest, but first he needs a bath, and _you're _gonna be the one to do it! Stop looking at me like that! What are you, three? We need to wash him off, and I'm a girl, so it's _logical _that you—"

"Alright, alright, I got it," Ed muttered. Winry stared at him for another moment before sighing in exasperation and demanding, "This isn't about seeing him naked, is it?"

Ed squeaked, sputtering, "W-what the hell are you talking about? What makes you think—"

"I won't ask what happened, but I _know _you're mature enough not to take advantage of him in his unconscious state—"

"Get off it!" Ed yelled, his face threatening to outdo the bright color of his red coat. Winry sighed again and turned serious. "Alright, Ed. Just do it. We need to get him cleaned up, so, hop to it."

"I will!"

He hadn't noticed it before, but Envy was light, too light. He really needed to get the older boy to eat more. Ed proceeded to the private shower and turned the water on full blast. _Adjust the dial to warm…_

Now came the hard part. Getting Envy out of his clothes. They were plastered to him and dirty, too, but he managed to pull everything- well, almost- off. He left the shorts on— who'd want to wake up naked in front of someone they hadn't met for very long?— then carried it Envy, against his chest, into the water. He lathered a towel with soap, and rubbed it gentlyagainst Envy's skin— his back, his arms, his legs, every inch of bare skin that he could see— in circular motions, letting the water wash the residue away. He flushed yet again at the intimate contact, but reminded himself that this was, again, necessary and it wasn't his fault that he got stuck with the job.

He took a moment, as the water washed the soap bubbles off of Envy's back, to unconsciously admire his body. It really was too thin, but Envy somehow managed to tone that up a bit and make it seem attractive. It was strange. Ed had never thought of Envy like that until he'd held him against himself. Just touching him felt strange. And it then struck Ed that he'd never done so before Envy had been poisoned with Feverdream. They hadn't even had hand-to-hand contact. It was like Ed was avoiding him on purpose. _Am I afraid of him?_

_But he's… _Ed didn't want to think, but the thought came by itself. _He really is beautiful._

"Oh god."

He dropped the towel. _I'm… really attracted to him, aren't I…? _

"Ed?"

That was Winry. "…Yeah?"

"Are you done? The shower's been running for almost ten minutes…"

"Just about."

He then paled. Envy's shorts were soaked through— making it even more of a pain to take off. And how was he planning on pulling fresh clothes onto Envy without taking his old ones off? _I really am an idiot._

He called nervously, "Uh… Winry? A little help here?"

In the end, he'd still had to do the entire thing himself, with Winry huffing that they were both boys and that he shouldn't be so nervous in the first place and him being unusually complacent as he followed her exact orders, toweling him dry, redressing him, and tucking him under the covers and whatnot. Envy's breathing had softened, and Ed let out a sigh of relief— Envy hadn't woken up while he was bathing him; if he had, he didn't know what he would've done. Winry then told him that Envy had a temperature of one hundred and five and that they'd have to stay at least another three days. Ed couldn't complain. He had to think about Al.

It was laughable, really. It was true that for the moment, Envy was more important, and first things came first, but still,how couldhenot evengive Alphonse a second thought while he was sorting out his little problem? So he liked Envy. It was pathetic that it'd even taken him so long to figure that out. But Al should've come first. Al had always come first before. So what was so different now?

He didn't know, but there was something he needed to find out. Research was nearly impossible in a place like this, and he needed to put off rescuing Alphonse until he found out about it. He needed to know everything. About Greed, about Lyra, about the history of the land. _Everything._

_I need to get back to Central._

He would tell Winry abouthis decisiontomorrow.

&

_.: Tsuzuku:._

&

… I like this chapter even less than the last one. It's poorly written and not serious enough and, well, just plain horrible. I had to get it out though, because 1) I promised I would and 2) school starts soon and I won't have any time later to write it out and post it, so, okay. I might reedit it later on.

Greed was much nicer to Alphonse than he was to Envy in the manga and anime too, so it's not too farfetched of an idea in this chapter, is it? I hope he's not too OOC xD;… oh, and Ed finally "kissed" Envy! Too bad it wasn't voluntary, but at least he knows he's attracted to Envy now. Alphonse is Sloth and not Pride because of reasons I don't want to list. I didn't want him to be Gluttony either, so… blehh.

**I'm taking another vote. How old do you think I am? **All ages are an option. Please be specific, with no more than a two-year range. Also note that this is just so that I can see what age-level I'm writing on (and maybe because I'm curious about what you people think of me). I'll reveal my age in the next chapter, but that's a pretty long way off. I'll be taking a break from writing for a long while, possibly until winter break because, you know, school. I'm sorry, but I'll be really busy with all the things coming up and I probably won't have a lot of free time to write. So I apologize in advance.


	9. Chapter 9

**Koukyuu no Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving! I'm thirteen and in 9th grade. I'm surprised none of you guessed it right, considering my horrible plot structure and occasional juvenile grammatical errors (though some of them are ffdotnet's fault…). I hope that doesn't change your impression of me, though it does give you a reason for my hesitance in writing lemon. School is still killing me, I just wanted to update because of the holiday and everything.

To **deathdefy**: I'm not supposed to admit anything , but I'm not Japanese; I just took random words from a dictionary. So I'm pretty sure it's grammatically incorrect and doesn't make sense… but it's supposed to mean "Slave of the Kingdom" or something to that affect…

To **random**: …… I did tell you all I wouldn't post until a holiday or a break. You have no idea how much homework and projects my school gives us, and I'm a straight-A student, too.

&

Chapter Nine

&

"_You're to do as you're told, boy. Your name will be Envy from now on."_

Not if he could help it…

_Your mother betrayed you. She doesn't care about you._

He didn't give a fuck anymore…

_No one could ever love you. You're tainted. You're not whole. You're an asshole to everyone about everything and you're not even strong enough to protect yourself._

"Shut up…"

The voice turned into Greed's. _You do what everyone tells you to do, you whore._

"Shut up!"

_Ed will end up abandoning you…you don't matter to anyone… he's just using you… he wants Alphonse… only Alphonse…_

"Ed!" Envy cried out, waking up in a sweat and feeling a rush of dizziness before falling back onto the pillow with a thump. His vision started to blur again, and he thought he saw the golden-haired boy tell him gently, "Go back to sleep, Envy…"

He felt a warm pressure on his hand… was that it was Ed's hand? He sighed softly as he squeezed softly in return and fell into the gentle embrace of oblivion once more.

&

Ed brushed a few stray hairs out of Envy's face with his metal right hand; Envy was still clutching his left and he didn't want to wake the older boy after he had just fallen asleep. He heard the soft thud of the door closing, and feet walking on tiptoe behind him. Winry's voice was unusually soft as she asked, "How is he doing?"

"He just calmed down," came the equally hushed answer. "Don't wake him."

She took a seat beside him. After a while, she smirked and remarked, "You're holding his hand so tightly, Ed. Are you sure there's nothing going on?"

He scowled. "Not this again."

She made a soft noise of agreement— defeat?— and continued gazing at Envy's pale face without a word. A question formed in Ed's head, and he asked, "Winry, what do _you _think of Envy?"

She turned to watch him out of the corner of her eye. She said, quietly, "I think I should be honest with you, Ed. I'm rather fond of him. But I don't love him. In fact, I think I may be jealous of him…"

"What? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Ed cocked his head to the side.

"No, what are you thinking?" Her smirk returned, but this time, he sensed she smiled to cover her pain."

"… I think that you think he's cuter than you are?"

She snorted. "Ed, you're a moron. Look, if you can't guess, then let's just drop the subject."

"Alright…"

Ed knew she was admitting that she liked _him_ and that she was jealous because he was more attracted to Envy than to her, but he didn't need his life to be even more screwed up than it was already— a love triangle would definitely do that. Though it wasn't exactly a triangle, it was a guy-likes-other-guy-who-doesn't-like-him-back-while-girl-likes-said-guy-and-is-forced-to-watch-him-act-like-a-total-idiot kind of thing. He was sorry that Winry had to be the "third wheel," but he had to consider Envy and himself too. Envy probably didn't even like him. He was always a viper when Ed tried to be civil.

_Like that time he got pissed at me at the restaurant and didn't even apologize._

Then again, he'd been clueless and said the wrong thing as usual. _What else…?_

_Oh yes, and let's not forget that whenever he talks to me, he tries to bite my head off. And how he gets all those mood swings and reverts to Master Elric every now and then… and how he almost never smiles around me…_

Envy definitely didn't like him.

There was a moment of silence; then Ed remembered his decision the night before. "Winry, I was thinking…"

Her eyes flicked to his face casually. He continued cautiously.

"…that we should go back to Central. There's some research I need to do."

She flared up immediately. He winced. "And abandon Al? Your own brother, Ed? What the fuck do you think you're doing? He could be starving in a jail cell right now or being fucked by Greed and you want to return all the way to Amestris for _research_? On what grounds? At what price? At the price of Al's innocence? His _sanity_? Don't even try to give me excuses, because I don't. Fucking. Care. _What do you think you're doing, Edward Elric_?"

"I do care," Ed said, looking at his hands, his expression miserable. "Of course I care. He's my only little brother. I want Alphonse to be safe just as much as you. But we're dealing with the possibility of Amestris being conquered. It's a national crisis here, Winry. Look," he pleaded, as Winry opened her mouth, "I'll explain."

"Greed took Alphonse. I think that _knew _that I would come after Al, and as I'm the eldest son of _that bastard_ …"

Winry didn't question his refusal to say his father's name, she said, voice sarcastic, "I almost forgot. Looks like I'm too familiar with you Elrics. 'That bastard' is the Fuhrer of Amestris, isn't he— oh, and _Envy doesn't know this_?"

"Know what?"

She waved her hand impatiently. "That you're on a social class equivalent to that of a prince's…"

He scowled. "I'm not proud of it. And I'm still subservient to the damn Military, aren't I?"

Roy's annoying smug face flashed before his mind's eye. Winry sighed, and said reasonably, "But the fact remains that when your father dies, _you _will inherit his position."

Like he wanted to. "Like that matters? Besides, he doesn't even help Mom and us out, instead leaving us to fend for ourselves in some rural place in the middle of nowhere. Some father. Anyways, as I was saying… about my hypothesis about Greed… he was definitely expecting me, so…I think… that he wanted to lure me there and hold both of us hostage for some ransom or another… we're the only sons he has, after all."

"But," Ed continued, his eyebrows furrowed, "something doesn't make sense. If that's what he wanted, then what was he thinking, offering me to choose between Alphonse and Envy? Is he just toying with me? Or is does he have some other motive? That's why I need to find out more about Greed and _that bastard_. There're pieces of the puzzle missing. I need to find them. If Greed really did plan everything out so perfectly, then he would know that if I chose Envy, I would go back to Amestris and come back for Al. But during that time, what does he want with Alphonse…? And if I chose Al, what would happen?"

"How will research help?" Winry demanded.

"I heard that there were a few events that caused a big uproar in the media two decades or so ago," Ed said. "I didn't look into them because I didn't think they concerned me. But maybe they do. Look, Winry, I know you're upset about this, but we really have no other option. How are we supposed to get Al back from stronghold in a land full of people we can't trust, with only the two—" he looked down at Envy, then sighed, "_—three _of us?"

"I suppose..."

&

_Envy's POV_

&

"Prisoners," Envy gasped, sitting up abruptly.

Ed spun around and forced him back onto the pillow. "Don't strain yourself, moron!"

"What do you mean, me?" Envy demanded. "I just woke up."

"I guess you're feeling better," Winry said.

"At least I'm not coughing up shit anymore, right?"

Envy fought Ed's grip to sit back up, but Ed proved to be much stronger, and he stopped struggling. He turned his eyes away from Ed's golden gaze and fixed them onto something more interesting. Oh, yes. The ceiling. It was… white. A plain white, but preferable to Ed's intense look. _Okay, I just wanted to avoid that look. I do _not_ like that look. I can't stand that look. And I do _not _like his eyes… Those eyes. Those beautiful golden eyes. Aaargh, I'm doing it again._ He groaned; his head felt like it was splitting in six directions as he remembered what he was doing there. "I'm… I'm sorry, Ed… I couldn't do anything against Greed…"

"It's okay," Ed murmured. "It's okay, you did your best."

He wasn't asking for forgiveness! He was just saying he was sorry. _Stop being so goddamn _nice_, Ed, I don't deserve it. _

Envy recalled his last dream, and remembered that he didn't tell Ed about the prisoners yet. "Ed. I did find something out. The king is making a collection of six prisoners, naming them after the seven deadly sins. He is Greed. There were two others, a Wrath and a Lust. Alphonse… he was to be named either Sloth or Pride, but I didn't stay long enough to get it. That means that there are three more prisoners coming."

Ed's eyes widened. "The seven deadly sins… Alphonse… royalty… the seven kingdoms… Winry, it's like the legend. A great king will one day take the seven kingdoms and unite them under one rule. But he can't possibly be thinking of that, can he?"

"I'm not the boy genius here, Ed," Winry responded with dull exasperation.

"Anything's possible for Greed," Envy said, grimacing, though he didn't quite understand what Ed was talking about.

Ed turned to him. "Oh, yeah. I was planning to go back to Amestris to report in for duty… and to do some research on Greed. You don't mind, do you?"

Envy could only assume that Amestris was his hometown, or close to it. He was silent for a moment, then cracked a smile. "… anything to get away from this place."

"Great. Then it's settled?"

"Yeah, whatever, Ed," Winry said in that same defeated voice, and clapped him on the shoulder before going off to her room. Envy stared at her back. "What's up with her?"

"She doesn't like us leaving Alphonse here alone," Ed replied. "I don't either, but we don't have a choice."

Envy winced. "I'm sorr—"

Ed placed a finger on his lips, smiling gently. "I wasn't accusing you, Envy. Don't worry about it. Get some rest. We're leaving tomorrow."

"But I just woke up—"

The door closed firmly behind Ed. Envy frowned at the door before deciding he should get more sleep after all to get rid of the headache he was quickly developing.

&

_.:Tsuzuku:. _

&

A/N: I apologize for all the technical detail. My writing often reflects my current mood (which is why some of my chapters are very mercurial in mood, going from happy to depressing very quickly because I'm writing over a number of days), and I feel very indifferent right now. This also felt like a filler chapter (to me, anyways). Again, I'm sorry. I'll try to get better over the winter break, so please bear with me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Koukyuu on Toriko**

By: _Minuiko_

Greed!Ling (in manga chapter 56) is so cool! ; hahaha. Um, sorry for the long-time-no-update (right, I say that for all of my six unfinished stories, ugh)…

Just wanted to make this clear: in my story, Alchemy does not exist. Which explains why Ed didn't act like the real Ed would and just say "No deal!" the way he did in the Hagaren anime/manga and try to kick everyone's ass.

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Chapter Ten

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"_Is this an elevator?"_

_Six-year-old Edward was struggling to keep his eyes open; it was close to midnight. Trisha smiled and explained to him that no, it was not an elevator, it was their new home. Edward was too tired to make a big deal about it, only commenting that it looked too small to live in. She laughed, saying that they would manage, and tucked him into his new bed with Alphonse, who was already asleep. _

"_Is Dad gonna live here, too?"_

"_No, Edward. Daddy isn't living here."_

"_Why not?"_

"_I'll explain when you're older."_

_Edward pouted, but let the evasion slide. "Will he visit us a lot?"_

"_Not often, Edward."_

"_Why not? Doesn't he rule the country? Can't he take breaks whenever he wants?"_

"_Daddy is busy at his work. He can't visit us too often or else he'll get in trouble. Even rulers can get into trouble."_

"_But he's _never_ here. You always look sad when he's gone. I don't want you to be sad, Mom."_

_Trisha smiled and kissed his forehead. "Don't think about it too much. Go to sleep, you've had a long day."_

"_Can you sleep with us, Mom?"_

_She laughed. "You're growing up so fast, both you and Alphonse. but… just this once, okay?"_

"'_kay."_

_He was asleep before she had even gotten her apron off. She smiled and kissed both of her sons' cheeks before closing the light._

&

She never did tell them, and gradually he began not to care. All that mattered was that Hohenheim wasn't there and his mother was forced to be strong all the time, crying only when she thought Edward couldn't see. And he had thought that he had to bring his father back, no matter how much he began to despise the man, just so he could see his mother really smile, and it stung. Weren't he and Alphonse enough to make her happy? They did their best, but it was always, always her working her best for them, and them not giving enough in return. It was frustrating, but what she really wanted was Hohenheim…

Then their supply of money ran out and he was just old enough to get work at the city to make up for what Hohenheim didn't give them. His two reasons for working in the military were to get closer to the Fuhrer, his father, and the decent pay in higher ranks. The man showed him no favoritism and he'd started out at a low-paying desk job and had been forced to juggle a second, part-time job as well just to pay for a shabby apartment in the city while sending the bulk of his salary back home.

Roy Mustang could have been called his savior, though Edward would never admit to it, as he was the one who first took an interest in the boy, for his "hard-working nature, optimistic personality, and obvious talent," though Ed really suspected he just wanted someone he could have fun teasing, someone with little experience and credit who could be easily used as a scapegoat while he slacked off and picked up military girls. Edward wouldn't let him, however. Their age difference really didn't matter when it came to a contest of words; Edward could attack just as viciously. When it came to experience… Edward grudgingly conceded that the older man was indeed more experienced, and that was why Roy usually won their verbal spars.

But anyhow, it boosted his salary enough that he didn't need to scrounge for extra lunch money, and could send more back home. He, of course, didn't like being an assistant, and had so worked his way somehow to the level of second-lieutenant, making him less dependent on Roy for his money, though he still had to obey him to some degree, the man being a Colonel and a full three ranks above him.

When he tried confronting Hohenheim, the man had been so cold and professional in saying that there was no way he could help Trisha or her sons without seeming prejudiced that Ed could hardly believe he was a father. _This _was the man his mother was upset over? Pined for? Talked about so exuberantly? This man had _nothing _that could possibly attract as kind a woman as his mother to him.

Simply said, his father was a bastard.

Not long after, Alphonse had been kidnapped (for God knew what reason) and Edward went on leave to chase after him. Then he'd arrived in the distant land of Xing… and met Envy.

And now he was back.

"It's so… so…"

"Civilized? Sanitary?" Edward said, grinning at Envy's expression.

"Different," Envy said, glaring at Edward. "Full of yourself, aren't you?"

He held up a hand defensively. "Hey, you have to admit that the scenery beats the hell out of those one-tree-a-mile-with-garbage-dumps-in-everyone's-back-yard places in Xing, wouldn't you agree?"

"Xing happens to be very culturally rich and very popular for tourists, and more prosperous districts than the one you visited happen to have _beautiful_ gardens. The classical Xingese arts and buildings were state-of-the-art for their time, making the national gallery worth visiting as well. And the shops sold everything so _cheap_. I wish we could've bought more… Those beautiful metal tools, and nails and screws and bolts and…"

Winry proceeded to rant with an enraptured look on her face, and both Edward and Envy sighed and shook their heads, walking on. _And she was the one who was furious at me for abandoning Al? She's enjoying herself more than I am! _How strange people were, to be able to have fun even in times of distress, and to find everything repulsive while at complete peace.

"Where are we going?"

"Well," Ed said, "I thought maybe we could first stop by my apartment— it's big enough for the three of us if I move a few things— then head out for lunch, and Winry could take you sightseeing while I visit the Colonel and get back to work. As long as I'm in the military, I might as well make use of military resources."

Envy admitted, "It is pretty nice. The change of scenery, I mean. There's nothing here to remind me of… well, you know."

"Yeah." Edward looked longingly at the library they'd just passed, but now wasn't the time for that. And as much as he needed to save Alphonse… they had to deal with Envy. What could they do about him? Edward didn't know. But for now, they could relax for a day or two. Besides, even if he found the information he needed, it still wouldn't do with Greed as powerful as he was. And with the plan he was possibly forming… "I can't believe a man like that is king," he finally said.

"There are a lot of things in this world that aren't perfect," Envy commented. "For example, your stature, or lack of thereof."

The reaction was expectedly explosive. "WHO'S SO SHORT HE NEEDS A STOOL TO SEE OVER THE KITCHEN COUNTER?"

"Who ever mentioned a kitchen, Ed?" Winry said.

"I'm hungry, it was the first thing I thought of! And tell this guy," finger pointed in fervent accusation at Envy, "to quit commenting on my height!"

"Envy, stop commenting on his height," Winry said airily, and said, "After we drop off a few particulars in your apartment, we can go to that nice little diner near Schieska's home— you can probably ask her to find whatever research materials you need at the Amestris Library, too. Much faster than a library catalogue. And while you're at it, I can go take Envy shopping!"

"You just want someone to hold your stuff, huh."

"Why would you think that? Maybe he'll take an interest in automail, unlike you. I don't get why you don't, it's fascinating, and gives you a feeling of accomplishment, especially since you save lives. One of the few worthwhile professions in the world."

"Actually, I'd rather go with Ed," Envy said quietly, causing Winry to stare at him with an eyebrow raised and Ed turning his face away, blushing at the implications. _Wait, he wants to go with me to search for something confidential and boring instead of going with Winry to get to know the city, what could that mean, does he prefer my company more or is he just trying to get out of shopping? God, what am I thinking, I'm reading too much into it, if it were me, I'd want to go with me too. But it's research! Boring research! He doesn't even like research, does he? Well, I guess I wouldn't know… but wait, can he even read?_

"Well, it's up to you, I guess," Winry said in a neutral tone.

Envy nodded briefly, and they continued their walk.

&

No… Nii-san… 

Ed's gold eyes flashed in impatience as he rejected the younger boy again and again. "You're getting annoying."

"Nii-san, don't leave me behind! Don't… leave me…"

"Shut up! A stupid brat like you has no right to say that to me. After everything I did for Mom and you, the least you could do is let me do what I want!"

"Nii-san!"

"Need help, o-chibi-san?" a husky voice said, and his brother shook his head, smiling. After Envy's form had consolidated from the darkness, he and Ed looked down at Alphonse contemptuously. His violet eyes never leaving the Alphonse's, Envy grabbed Edward's hand possessively and jerked.

"Come on, let's go," Envy urged.

"Yes."

Both of them were walking away into darkness, and Alphonse lay there, sobbing, "Nii-san! Nii-san, don't leave me… not for _him_…"

Alphonse woke up again in the dark room that was quickly becoming familiar. It was night and both Lust and Wrath were sleeping. Despite the fact that the room was heated, he shook as though with cold, and couldn't stop. Why had he dreamed about something like that? His brother would never leave him, his own flesh and blood, and especially not for a slave boy he had barely met. But even as he thought that, he remembered a disturbing fact that the dream had brought up. While Ed had worked his heart out trying to get enough money to pay for all their bills, he had done nothing worth noting since he had left his mother's lap. It wasn't equivalent trade… they weren't even that far apart in age. He should have gotten a job too… been more useful…

God, he was so damned useless. And all he could do now was hope for his brother to come again. He bit back tears of frustration and told himself to deal with it. The dream hadn't meant anything more than a bit of doubt in his subconscious, which was not to be trusted. His brother _would _come for him. He couldn't not believe otherwise.

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_.:Tsuzuku:._

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Bah. School starts in three days and I need to study for a test on the first day. :O So sorry if I don't update again. Besides, how many of you other than me think that this chapter was utter crap? If you did, I'm not surprised. If you didn't, then don't mind me right now, it's twelve something and my eyes are tired and I feel irritated. I do think that I could have written it much better though… constructive crit please? Not enough to hurt my feelings :D.

And I hatehateHATE how Edward is so passive and OOC. And how he's notbeing a bitch about leaving Alphonse behind. Al'sthe most important person to Edward in the world! But then again, considering that they don't get much time to bondin this story (about 10 years togetherbut only as kids), the OOCness is sort of acceptable. But I stilldon't like thisEd.I can't write him IC at all. _God_. But I'll try harder next time, I promise!


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